Link Thread

[Nate the Great]

Happy Pi Day 2018!

Yeah, by now the appropriate links are starting to thin out, but at least ViHart made a new video for it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6acbBrLoi14).

And the amazing thing I learned today (courtesy of the video) is that today is Albert Einstein's birthday. He'd be 139.

USA Today reports on the pizza deals for today. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpndxEOcJBA) I can't remember the last time I referred to a "pizza pie" without it being a quote (specifically of the Schoolhouse Rock song "7.50 Once a Week (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GawH48QNDfc)").

[Nate the Great]

If you need a random 1/2 event, you flip a coin. For a random 1/4 event, use a tetrahedral die, 1/6 use a normal die, etc., but what if you need a random 1/3 event? How thick does a coin have to be where landing on its edge is as likely as either end face?

Matt Parker of standupmaths (and Numberphile, etc.) decides to find out. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qqPKKOU-yY)

You need a cylinder where the diameter is its height times the square root of three.

Of course the more practical solution is simply assigning 1 and 6 on a normal die to the first outcome, 2 and 5 to the second outcome, and 3 and 4 to the third outcome.

FYI, if you don't care about statistical distributions I'd bail out after ten minutes or so.

[Nate the Great]

When I was a kid Viewmasters (at least traditional cardboard-and-film Viewmasters) were still a thing, since VHS tapes were expensive and you likely only had one TV in the house (how did we survive those dark times? ;))...

Anyway, of course there were Star Trek Viewmaster reels (http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/View-Master).

I don't recall having live-action show discs, just Disney ones and maybe the odd nature scene.

This site has a summary of a few of them (http://graeme.50webs.com/trek/viewmastertrek/index.htm)

I'm amazed that Viewmaster sent their own camera crew to film the slightly offset photos needed for the reels.

The writer's theory for the use of "The Omega Glory" is that it's the only one completely written by Roddenberry, thus making rights issues easier. Take this with a grain of salt, I'm more inclined to go with "it was the episode being shot when Viewmaster sent their camera crew around."

One of the reels mentions the TOS transporter range of 16,000 miles in contrast to the usual 24th-century value of 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles). It's fair enough that the range would almost double in a hundred years.

I'm amazed that when a shot of the Enterprise bridge was used as the Exeter bridge, they covered up the dedication plaque even though it wouldn't be readable at this scale.

The guy mentions the lunacy of putting quotation marks around such things as "beaming" and "Old West" and "cage" and "Meraks".

Laugh along with me at the usage of "phased out" to describe a person that has been vaporized with a phaser.

Note the "famous Spock nerve pinch" or FSNP. I thought that this was just an injoke used by the TOS creative team. How it made its way to the script given to Viewmaster is beyond me.

[Nate the Great]

A compilation of characters running in and out of doors a la Scooby Doo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud9tQh2Icj8) (what TV Tropes calls "Scooby Dooby Doors (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ScoobyDoobyDoors)")

Old, new, animated, live-action, this gag never gets old.

[Nate the Great]

A compilation of appearances of the Vulcan salute across many shows, along with Nimoy explaining the origin of it. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5DXYwokcF4)

I'm disappointed that The Terminal (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blSIyMmU4Tg)didn't make it, but I'm not surprised that iiAFX hasn't seen that movie. It features a pre-Uhura Zoe Saldana and everything!

[Nate the Great]

A Rube Goldberg device that's primarily a bunch of fidget spinners moving a marble around. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR5WT12B_88)

I find watching Rube Goldberg devices relaxing, how about you guys?

[Nate the Great]

It's Floppy Drives used as Musical Instruments Day

(A few years ago (http://www.fiveminute.net/forums/showpost.php?p=80329&postcount=738) I posted Bodensee's machine for converting keyboard presses directly into floppy drive music, but he's hardly the only one to be doing this)

Pawel Zadroziniak presents the Floppotron!

Hawaii 5-0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32kWuKysE6A&list=PLxEIPnG39TgQelbejLcNWT2DjLmd9DBbq&index=3&t=0s)
Pokemon Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PUhcNyDCKs&index=6&list=PLxEIPnG39TgQelbejLcNWT2DjLmd9DBbq)
Zelda Overworld Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGlVt3x-QWI&index=17&list=PLxEIPnG39TgQelbejLcNWT2DjLmd9DBbq)
Still Alive (Portal) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB6IKDA4Ovs&index=18&list=PLxEIPnG39TgQelbejLcNWT2DjLmd9DBbq)
20th Century Fox Fanfare
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC2OrRZpgvA&index=24&list=PLxEIPnG39TgQelbejLcNWT2DjLmd9DBbq)Wintergata n's Marble Machine (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DLzroy7rxc&index=27&list=PLxEIPnG39TgQelbejLcNWT2DjLmd9DBbq)
MacGyver Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPmSoG9BXjI&index=34&list=PLxEIPnG39TgQelbejLcNWT2DjLmd9DBbq)
Korobeiniki (Tetris Theme) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fh1CIupVXU&index=46&list=PLxEIPnG39TgQelbejLcNWT2DjLmd9DBbq)
Axel F (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EwU-juNl1M&index=49&list=PLxEIPnG39TgQelbejLcNWT2DjLmd9DBbq)
James Bond Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-CA08prcfY&list=PLxEIPnG39TgQelbejLcNWT2DjLmd9DBbq&index=58)
Inspector Gadget Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2muqesqltk&index=60&list=PLxEIPnG39TgQelbejLcNWT2DjLmd9DBbq)
Mission Impossible Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd_IISXafRc&index=64&list=PLxEIPnG39TgQelbejLcNWT2DjLmd9DBbq)

Next is MrSolidSnake745.

Star Wars Imperial March (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM_sAxrAu7Q&t=0s&list=PL44C2614808EB920E&index=22)
DuckTales (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s0EvKqiods&list=PL44C2614808EB920E&index=27) (this one is a valiant effort, but the theme is just too peppy for such a somber instrument as a bank of floppy drives ;))
Axel F (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrIvu3w458Q&list=PL44C2614808EB920E&index=50)(this one isn't as good as Pawel's, I just wanted to show how some songs are too complicated for just eight floppy drives)
Power Rangers Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IykNJIMYJko&list=PL44C2614808EB920E&index=51)
Ghostbusters Theme
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx_vWkv50uk&list=PL44C2614808EB920E&index=57)Carol of the Bells (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMbKs1rXXNk&index=61&list=PL44C2614808EB920E)
Dr. Who Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enZ4P7Azxys&list=PL44C2614808EB920E&index=65)
TNG Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_acDrLnhOL0&index=69&list=PL44C2614808EB920E)
Super Mario Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsniJXUmOVk&list=PL44C2614808EB920E&index=93)

[Nate the Great]

A fan-made computer animation of the major events of Wrath of Khan, including some impressive particle animations of the Mutara Nebula and the creation of the Genesis Planet. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yLkr8nK0Qg)

[Nate the Great]

Someone ported as much of Mario 1 into the Atari 2600 engine as possible. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fSO-UTdCI8)Yeah, everything had to be downgraded a lot, but it's still impressive for the available technology.

[Nate the Great]

Fan trailer for a Gargoyles movie. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Va3mBDlrQ0)

The CG is good for an amateur production, but I think it's a shame that they used a generic narrator rather than try to imitate Goliath's voice.

[Nate the Great]

As a fan of old arcade games (not videogames, but pinball, skeeball, etc.) I was happy to discover Matt3756 (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMe8Y3zO7_la3uHaWR3OVrg) recently. He specializes in claw machines, but also does other things like mini golf, coin pushers, and so forth.

It makes me sad to think that tickets and tokens only exist as data on disposable cards these days. One of the best parts of the whole process was loading your strips of tickets into the scale basket to see how many you had!

[Nate the Great]

Rock version of the Search for Spock theme. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnBwmmYbo9o) Backing random Animated Series clips. Just because.

[Nate the Great]

Today is Tom Lehrer's 90th birthday (yes, he's still with us)...

Last July I plugged Lofty Pursuits (http://www.fiveminute.net/forums/showpost.php?p=80903&postcount=902), and today they celebrated the occasion by making orange candy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGzGsqrYrJQ). Orange because Tom once created a rhyme for it (sort of).

Since (http://www.fiveminute.net/forums/showpost.php?p=81100&postcount=89) I've (http://www.fiveminute.net/forums/showpost.php?p=80782&postcount=858) been (http://www.fiveminute.net/forums/showpost.php?p=78271&postcount=37) known (http://www.fiveminute.net/forums/showpost.php?p=78176&postcount=32) to (http://www.fiveminute.net/forums/showpost.php?p=76028&postcount=356) plug (http://www.fiveminute.net/forums/showpost.php?p=75530&postcount=292) Tom Lehrer before, let's see if I can come up with some new material...

The Demented Music Database (http://dmdb.org/lehrer/bio.html)presents a brief biography (that is, they copied a magazine article from the '90s). Today I learned (not from the article, but still) that he wrote a few songs from Garrison Keillor's "American Radio Company" radio show (i.e. "We're Pretending That This isn't Just A Prairie Home Companion With A New Name and in New Locations"), including "Hannukah in Santa Monica." In addition, I didn't know that the math show that he wrote "That's Mathematics" for eventually turned into "Square One TV." One wonders how hard it would've been to license "That's Entertainment" so the show could use "That's Mathematics".

Another biography (https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/tom-lehrer-3348.php) courtesy of TheFamousPeople.com. He graduated high school at 15, got his bachelors in mathematics at 19 and his masters the following year.

And again. (https://spectator.org/33723_whatever-happened-tom-lehrer/) This one brings up Tomfoolery, Daniel Radcliffe's rendition of "The Elements", and Harvard's actual usage of "Fight Fiercely, Harvard."

[Nate the Great]

Another silly black and white Trek parody comic courtesy of Stupid Comics. (http://www.misterkitty.org/extras/stupidcovers/stupidcomics378.html)

The cast of Cheers, various DC and Marvel characters, Popeye, Abraham Lincoln, Han Solo and Chewie, etc.

As Obscurus Lupa would say, a reference is not a joke. There are plenty of references here, but little actual humor.

[Nate the Great]

As a sort of tie-in to yesterday's Lehrer celebration, I was wondering what exactly the "New Math" really was. I knew that it introduced higher-order mathematics concepts at an earlier age, but what was the point?

Apparently it consisted of visualizing algebra problems with rows of physical objects instead of variables.
(https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/learning-at-home/homework-study-skills/9-new-math-problems-and-methods?view=slideview)
And this is supposed to be more efficient than the Old Math...how?

[NAHTMMM]

https://minesweep.glitch.me/

Multiplayer minesweeper on a large field. It's an interesting twist.

[Nate the Great]

Tom Lehrer celebration, Part Three, featuring covers that were previously unknown to me:

Barbara Manning presents "Rickety Tickety Tin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJhNTc8mmiE)", a reworking of "The Irish Ballad", pushing things in a horror/country angle.

If you happen to speak Swedish (which I don't), you have Lars Ekborg (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0A948239EB436A96) ready to translate and sing Lehrer for you.

The Harvard University Band presents "Fight Fiercely, Harvard. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgCXzk14Uo4)" They add a bit more flourish to the original, especially when it comes to the brass instruments.

Nacha Guevara presents Estaremos Todos Juntos Algun Dia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMAcYNQ_VxE&index=2&list=PL53F7600A192A0240) (We Will All Together When We Go in Spanish)

Stan and Doug perform "The Hunting Song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuef91UQiaA)" with Swedish accents. How much of the accent is genuine and how much is merely comedic exaggeration, I don't care to guess.

[Nate the Great]

Tom Lehrer coverage, part four. His Erdos-Bacon-Sabbath number is 9 (https://rosschurchley.com/2012/06/24/who-else-has-an-erdos-bacon-sabbath-number/). Now you'd think his Erdos number would be the lowest, right? After all, they're both mathematicians. Nope!

Erdos number: Four

Lehrer->Thomas L. Austin Jr. OR W.F. Penny->John Riordan->Ronald L. Graham->Paul Erdos

Bacon number: Two.

Lehrer->John Cleese->Kevin Bacon

Sabbath number: Three.

Lehrer->Joe Raposo->Frank Oz->Ozzy Ozbourne

[Nate the Great]

Bob Dorough died yesterday. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dorough)

Schoolhouse Rock was and is part of who I am. Even before I was a Trekkie, I was a SHR fan.

I won't link all of the SHR songs that he sang, just some of my favorites:

My Hero Zero (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3huvvxUHDmM)
Three is a Magic Number (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2cjiP1mh48)
Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDwXHTcodNg)
The Body Machine (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLMRCgaAYIM)
This for That (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4EdSpc6lVA)

[Nate the Great]

Disco TOS Theme! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO6HZZHYYI4)

Wait until the middle when it really gets funky.

Techno Dance VOY Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7GUJ-iYzJc)!

Piano Solo DS9 Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9bwnY05GoU), performed by the composer!

[Nate the Great]

How Robert Picardo tricked his way into his cameo in First Contact.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2CGpm-01dI)Because as we all know, he's a doctor, not a doorstop (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIslsp2WjDs).

[Nate the Great]

A fun fan video where the TNG crew watches Star Wars. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wsLUC0uyUI)

See if you can pick out which episode each clip came from!

[Nate the Great]

A fan has modified a TOS Tricorder prop to be able to play any TOS episode. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaQNtcxmJKY)

[Nate the Great]

Some British schools are removing analog clocks because some students can't read them.
(http://www.localsyr.com/news/british-schools-removing-analog-clocks-from-classrooms-because-students-cant-read-them/1159175613)
So...much...snark...

[Nate the Great]

A correction on the British clock story courtesy of Snopes
(https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/schools-removing-analog-clocks/)

[Nate the Great]

Flower seeds, irrational numbers, and why the golden ratio is much more irrational than pi. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj8Sg8qnjOg)

Numberphile strikes again. If someone asks you what these higher mathematical concepts have to do with the real world, this is as good a video as any. If you need another, Mathologer tackles e (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoAbA6rXrwA).

[Nate the Great]

Happy Towel Day 2018! And this time it's special because forty years ago the original radio show was released (well, back in March and April it was, but Towel Day was never meant to tie into an official h2g2 date beyond being soon after DNA's death).



An article from the Hindustani Times describes the holiday. (https://www.hindustantimes.com/books/may-25-is-towel-day-here-s-why-it-s-celebrated-today/story-IfsX8gAAzccVrys7zscP5M.html)


The official Towel Day site describes various events being held to celebrate the event around the world. (http://www.towelday.org/)



Listen to the original radio show on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LlbF6DZjQ8).


A library in Georgia will be showing the movie tonight. (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/towel-day-screening-of-the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-tickets-45910393222) A shame, as it's hardly the best way to introduce people to the mythos. Abridging the TV series would've been better.



A bunch of fans in Copenhagen will be having a BBQ to celebrate. (https://www.meetup.com/The-Social-Geek-CPH/events/246674788/) (I hope the weather there isn't as hot as it is where I am.)


Lemonly.com gives us an infographic of 42 trivia (https://lemonly.com/work/42-towel-day-infographic).


Cake Wrecks presents some h2g2 cakes (http://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2018/5/25/happy-towel-day.html).


Donate towels and other supplies to an animal shelter in Maine and get a coupon to celebrate the day. (http://lcnme.com/business/smitten-to-host-towel-day-supply-drive/)


A pub in London is having a Vogon Poetry Slam (https://www.waterpoet.co.uk/new-events/2018/5/26/vogon-poetry-slam-towel-day).


Nick Page is still working on animating Episode Two, but here's the Guide entry on robots and the Marketing Division of the Syrius Cybernetics Corporation. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mHaKke3EG8)

[Nate the Great]

Towel Day 2018, Part Two: H2G2 fanart from DeviantArt


This is not how I envision Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged (https://sheana.deviantart.com/art/Wowbagger-20518173)


The whale and bowl of petunias midfall (https://gehtsiegarnixan.deviantart.com/art/Petunia-7-554795393)


Megaman sprites modified into H2G2 characters. (https://nick-s-proud.deviantart.com/art/h2g2-27009049) Definite Bob and George vibes here...


Apparently the Borg have even assimilated all of the sentient mattresses that are named Zem. (https://sophiawong.deviantart.com/art/H2G2-We-are-Zem-18260275) I wouldn't expect these guys to be worthy of assimilation...


Arthur and Ford as MLP characters chasing a sofa across prehistoric Earth. (https://empyu.deviantart.com/art/H2G2-Ponified-30MC-441712179) The choice of H2G2 green alien mascot and slice of bread as cutie marks confuses me. You'd expect Arthur to be a cup of tea, at least...


Ford introduces the Fourth Doctor to the Guide. (https://klarika11.deviantart.com/art/Ford-and-Four-460564869) The weird thing is that it's the TV series version of Ford with the movie version of the Guide, not the TV series version of the Guide (http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy_(travel_gui de)?file=Guie_from_tv.jpg).


LEGO minfigs of the cast: TV (https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fideascdn.lego.com%2Fco mmunity%2Fprojects%2F698%2F263%2F150300%2F2601236-o_1apqrraod2svmqb61d1l3m1bfa7-thumbnail-full.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fideas.lego.com%2Fprojects% 2F1221aaec-696b-49c3-bd65-ecdf8707f3d6&docid=xNZkCZBvDRU8pM&tbnid=H5D9Hzgn2_UAXM%3A&vet=12ahUKEwiE4Oat4qTbAhXMIDQIHXMSCag4ZBAzKAUwBXoE CAEQBg..i&w=900&h=700&client=firefox-b-1&bih=848&biw=1280&q=hitchhiker%27s%20guide%20to%20the%20galaxy&ved=2ahUKEwiE4Oat4qTbAhXMIDQIHXMSCag4ZBAzKAUwBXoEC AEQBg&iact=mrc&uact=8) and movie (https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fideascdn.lego.com%2Fco mmunity%2Fprojects%2Fd54%2F09b%2F149753%2F2590918-o_1apbcsa545cmuh51ret1e8v52th-thumbnail-full.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fideas.lego.com%2Fprojects% 2F2fcf796e-82ff-4151-b977-66ea4acf38d0&docid=1BTYECeFe8FRQM&tbnid=nCxmC1erXnzy8M%3A&vet=12ahUKEwiE4Oat4qTbAhXMIDQIHXMSCag4ZBAzKA0wDXoE CAEQDg..i&w=900&h=700&client=firefox-b-1&bih=848&biw=1280&q=hitchhiker%27s%20guide%20to%20the%20galaxy&ved=2ahUKEwiE4Oat4qTbAhXMIDQIHXMSCag4ZBAzKA0wDXoEC AEQDg&iact=mrc&uact=8) versions. I wonder why the TV cast is with a modified version of the movie Guide...

[Nate the Great]

Periodic Videos shows us a periodic table from roundabout 1880. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfC4OGbbHLc)


Being a reader of Asimov science essays I've learned a bit about the history of the discovery of the elements and the development of the periodic table, so this stuff interests me.

[Nate the Great]

Today Overclocked Remix posted another Ducktales Moon Theme remix on their YouTube channel. I won't link to it, because I think it's rather subpar compared to their usual level of quality. However, I notice that I last mentioned ocremix in 2011 (http://www.fiveminute.net/forums/showpost.php?p=78154&postcount=648), but never actually did a rundown of my favorite remixes, so let's get started....


Of course the classic Rabbit Joint Zelda song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSUI0hNdRxo&index=3&list=PL81DAA3C50F85D209&t=0s) was one of the first, but I'm surprised it was #22 and not a bit lower.


I feel it a shame that the Tetris "C" theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH07dDQvx2g&index=6&list=PL81DAA3C50F85D209) doesn't get as much exposure as the other two, but here's one example.


Part of the charm of remixing video game music is taking melodies that are supposed to inspire one emotion and tweak it until it inspires another emotion. Why else would one twist Zelda's Lullaby (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83wMqCaRIbg&list=PL81DAA3C50F85D209&index=15) into something more fitting for a techno club?


The opening of King's Quest V (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o1Q_ocQ2bE&list=PL81DAA3C50F85D209&index=31) pushed in a more relaxed, atmospheric direction.



Commander Keen gets funky (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfKhapIXQ4g&index=46&list=PL81DAA3C50F85D209), but he still doesn't want to eat his veggies.



In general I'm not a fan of fan vocals on these things because darnit Jim, we're nerds, not singers. And Mike/Darangen is no exception (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xjp2jP3nqYo&list=PL81DAA3C50F85D209&index=51). But sometimes a remixer puts enough heart into his work that vocal deficiencies can be forgiven (especially when the music kicks butt). And this is one of these times.

[Nate the Great]

An explanation of the game mechanics that are being exploited in a Mario 1 speedrun. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FQJEzJ_cQw)


It truly inspires awe, contemplating how many thousands of hours of collective effort are being used to save a fraction of a second of time finishing a thirty year old game.

[Nate the Great]

The Fourth Star Trek Deviantart Day!

Custom-made Mirror Marlena action figure (https://gesseng-regina.deviantart.com/art/Armed-and-dangerous-746950489)
This is labeled as a Star Trek sketch, but I'm not seeing it. (https://sakurates.deviantart.com/art/Star-Trek-Sketchbook-8-746299156) Is it supposed to be a Studio Ghibli version of Janeway's Gothic holoprogram?
Cute manga version of Doctor Crusher (https://sakurates.deviantart.com/art/Star-Trek-Sketchbook-2-746295347)
Manga version of Torres. (https://sakurates.deviantart.com/art/Star-Trek-Voyager-Torres-746297556) It's nice how each of the sketches has B'Elanna expressing a different emotion.
Manga versions of Seven and Doc. (https://sakurates.deviantart.com/art/Star-Trek-Voyager-Seven-of-Nine-746298415) That line on Doc's face confuses me...
Manga Barclay and Zimmerman. (https://sakurates.deviantart.com/art/VOY-Digital-Doodle-1-746294318) At least I think that's supposed to be Barclay and Zimmerman...
Sisko and his baseball. (https://stefanomarinetti.deviantart.com/art/Star-Trek-DS9-Benjamin-Sisko-321688301)You'd think with a tailor on board his uniform would fit better than that...
Cartoon poster for "Our Man Bashir" (https://undead-medic.deviantart.com/art/Our-Man-Bashir-174164576). I'm not sure what animation style or show I could best compare this to...
Troi as a cake (https://charles-hall.deviantart.com/art/star-trek-tng-sketch-3-572149172). With mint frosting...
Picard playing his flute (https://charles-hall.deviantart.com/art/Star-trek-tng-artist-return-3-611536860)
Young Spock and I-Chaya (https://dver.deviantart.com/art/Spock-and-I-Chaya-642780005)
A lineup of Kirk's women. (https://kelleybean86.deviantart.com/art/Ladies-of-Kirk-free-wallpaper-552755589) And now I have to try identifying all of them from memory. Left to right...
1. Unknown, she reminds me of Zarabeth but she's a "Lady of Spock"
2. The Orion Slave Girl played by Yvonne Craig in Whom Gods Destroy
3. No clue
4. Is that the girl from The Cloud Minders?
5. Shanna from The Gamesters of Triskelion
6. No clue (but her Cochrane delta is on the wrong side)
7. Uhura (which episode is that?)
8. The "witch" from Catspaw
9. That's Finney's daughter Jamie from Court Martial (not one of Kirk's women, FYI, ick)
10. Mirror Marlena Moreau
11. Korby's assistant, I forget her name
12. Elaan of Troyius
13. Areel Shaw
14. That woman from A Private Little War
15. She's a Scalosian from Wink of and Eye
16. Miramanee
17. Mira Romaine

[Nate the Great]

Teaser Trailer for the live-action Dumbo remake (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QPdRfqTnt4)


No comment.

[Nate the Great]

So apparently the fans have decided that June 16th is Captain Picard Day (http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Captain_Picard_Day), and by sheer coincidence I stumbled upon this on June 16th...

The original Captain Picard Day clip, from "The Pegasus"
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiKwAS1qaCk)
("The Pegasus" is set on Stardate 47457.1, and if you treat 47000 as January 1st, 2370 and 48000 as January 1st, 2371, (457.1/1000)(365 days)=166.8 days into the year, which is June 16th)

ThinkGeek is holding a contest to win a Captain Picard Facepalm Bust (https://trekmovie.com/2018/06/16/happy-captain-picard-day-celebrate-and-win-a-facepalm-bust/)

The Picard Song! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ucVfn9gob8)

A Startrek.com writer gives his top 11 Picard moments to celebrate (http://www.startrek.com/article/one-trek-mind-celebrating-captain-picard-day)

50 classic Picard quotes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qSgoco6SfM)

Compilation of "Engage!" and "Make it so" clips (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jd1Ih8EUmw)

[Nate the Great]

Cats play in a cat-sized replica of the Enterprise bridge while sound bytes play. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjFmI9CUrW0)



It was made by an organization that tries to organize cat adoptions.

[Nate the Great]

Beating Pokemon Red/Blue with only one Ditto. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeWxEbl2kWQ)


No cheating except hacking the starter Pokeball to have a Ditto instead of Charmander/Squirtle/Bulbasaur. And having a few HM slaves to clear overworld obstacles, of course.

[Nate the Great]

Apparently today is the 10th anniversary of the Periodic Videos (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtESv1e7ntJaLJYKIO1FoYw) YouTube channel. I won't link to the commemorative videos, but I will link to a few of my favorite videos:



The team "sings" the Elements Song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afFw91fvNJM)
The Periodic Table (sort of) engraved on a human hair (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQU2IAsQak8) (50 microns by 90 microns!)
Destroying pumpkins using chemistry in as many ways as possible (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2799XSIlZM)
Making a birthday cake using lab equipment and as many lab chemicals as possible (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0MCEL0yrKc)
Cutting butter with a hot knife, a laser beam, a waterjet, and sodium hydroxide (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRZ8TlvH2gc)(don't eat it, it's been turned into soap!).

[Nate the Great]

KittenWar (http://www.kittenwar.com/)!


Look at two pictures of kittens. Click the one you think is cuter. The site tells you what percentage of other voters agreed with you. Repeat.

[Nate the Great]

The Straight Dope (as an official set of columns at least) is no more. (https://www.straightdope.com/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/)


Ouch. Seriously, ouch.


Links to first (https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/9274/the-first-straight-dope-column/) and last (https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/10111/do-brain-supplements-do-anything/) columns. Over forty-five years.

[Nate the Great]

Harlan Ellison died yesterday. (https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/harlan-ellison-dead-dies-star-trek-1202861048/)


It deserves comment by the forum, but I don't trust myself to make them right now.

[Nate the Great]

Lazy Game Reviews had their ninth anniversary last Saturday.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gztub4_ZvI)


(It's been over two years since I shilled him (http://www.fiveminute.net/forums/showpost.php?p=80445&postcount=762))


Time for a roundup of some of my favorite LGR videos! He reviews games, he reviews old computer hardware, he goes to thrift stores and shows us the treasures that he's found, it goes on from there.


Using a 1/2 inch CRT monitor (originally used for an old video camera) as a PC monitor! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY7olqQF8iM&index=85&t=0s&list=PLFDCFCDFCF7E7ACDD)

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ytRvodB24&t=0s&list=PLFDCFCDFCF7E7ACDD&index=104)
The MousePen (that is, a mouseball crammed into what looks like an old dental tool. Why? Because they can!) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ytRvodB24&t=0s&list=PLFDCFCDFCF7E7ACDD&index=104)

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYr2ph_p6as&list=PLB9FA1979AB986522&index=15&t=0s)
A wrist rest that looks like a loaf of French bread (your guess is as good as mine...) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYr2ph_p6as&list=PLB9FA1979AB986522&index=15&t=0s)


I'll just link to the entire LGR Thrifts playlist here. What will he find in thrift stores that's weird and wonderful? (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbBZM9aUMsjEM76RFMofBZmDBuqNPnCdt)

[Nate the Great]

Today's new Trek YouTube channel is EC Henry


Do the size and number of warp coils have anything to do with a ship's maximum speed? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXAoIGTQEBY)


"The Inner Light" is actually horrifying (and so is "Hard Time")
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4BX-s4WRyU)


The beauty of the NCC-1701's design, including it's Golden Ratio compliance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6RAbB8afn0)


Janeway's coffee addiction (75% of the times on Voyager that someone asks for coffee, it's Janeway) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxaFLVIjj9g)


How often does Kirk rip his shirt, anyway? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8mgvWT4HUs)


Did you know that Picard didn't order any Earl Grey in Season One? (and that he really doesn't drink it that much?)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH-OU1LiMnI)


Star Trek mentioned Christmas more often than I bet you thought (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgeDuqJHLrI)(which makes me wonder why the "All I Want For Christmas is You (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9xAcYSIxQ4&t=29s)" fan video used the same Archer quote for "Christmas" so much)



What is the real mortality rate of redshirts?
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIRRDO7_SZI)

[Nate the Great]

Someone made a better mousetrap out of junk. (https://neil.fraser.name/hardware/trap/) Too bad someone threw it away because it looked like junk.

[Nate the Great]

You'll remember when Lazy Game Reviews plugged a keyboard into a cellphone... (http://www.fiveminute.net/forums/showpost.php?p=80445&postcount=762)


Well, now he plugged a USB hub into a cellphone (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT1l8Dcjb1Y) so he can use the keyboard to play an old DOS game from a floppy disk, using DOSBox within Android!


Because the virtual controls of a touchscreen stink when trying to play a game that's meant to use a keyboard.

[Nate the Great]

Adam Savage meets a bunch of Totoro cosplayers at Comic-Con. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r0tCXX-XFQ)


It's interesting how many ways there are to make a Totoro costume...


And apparently the collective noun for Totoros is "cuddle." ;)


Wait for the Totoro/Chewbacca hybrid...

[Nate the Great]

The 8-Bit Guy shows how to take color photographs with a black and white camera. Sort of. It's complicated... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-ny3geJ-nk)

[Nate the Great]

Before electronic calculators were commonplace, if you needed a handheld calculation machine for multiplication, etc. you used a Curta (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curta).



See Numberphile cover one of the originals. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDn_DDsBWws)


And last year Adam Savage bought a 3D printed replica, but at 3X size. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9uRckJLqLk)

[Nate the Great]

The Zelda speedrunners are still chainsawing OOT apart, trying to find every possible way to hack the game and save a couple seconds here and there.


ZFG (formerly known as Zelda Freak Glitcha, ah the early days of speedrunning) recaps some of the recent discoveries here. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3imWPFtHkQ)


Now 100% is possible in under four hours. I remember when just plain finishing the game in under five hours was considered a big deal (http://web.archive.org/web/20090311164122/http://www.archive.org/details/ZeldaOoT_SS_457).

[Nate the Great]

It's back to school time for many...


Resistance is futile, you will be educated. (https://www.instagram.com/p/BmvsJNFjYYf/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_loading_state_control)

[Nate the Great]

The scale of the solar system if the moon was only one pixel. (http://joshworth.com/dev/pixelspace/pixelspace_solarsystem.html)


Sit back, relax, keep scrolling, and enjoy the commentary.

[Nate the Great]

Tactical breakdown of the events of "Balance of Terror", complete with some impressive computer graphics. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVcgBA70yBI)

[Nate the Great]

All Too Flat recently updated for the first time in nine years! (http://www.alltooflat.com/)


If you count last May as "recently", that is. All they did was update their privacy policy for GDPR (which is a new General Data Protection Regulation for the European Union), but it's something. At least the creators still visit the site from time to time.



The last time I shilled ATF was a year and a half ago. (http://www.fiveminute.net/forums/showpost.php?p=80704&postcount=77)

[Nate the Great]

Today is National Slinky Day, apparently... (http://thedaysoftheyear.com/celebrate-slinky-day/)


First a recap of some of my previous Slinky links (Slinks?):
Slinky vs. treadmill (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=711bZ_pLusQ)
Matthias Wandel's continuous Slinky staircase (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dinVcBEDhQ)


Now some new links:
Giant Slinky vs. escalator (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIPK2NQ85Fc)
Classic '80s commercial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUe8CS-Ov7w)
Human-sized Slinky performs a half-time show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7huZSApcO-g)
Make an origami Slinky! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDs97UoCVgE)
Crushing a Slinky in a hydraulic press (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO-tl3QpaRk)

[Nate the Great]

Rob Cockerham over at Cockeyed (How Much is Inside) strikes again!


Making giant d20s out of cement! (http://cockeyed.com/incredible/isocahedron/20-sided_die.html)


It's more complicated than you'd think.

[Nate the Great]

Today is the tenth anniversary of Woodworking for Mere Mortals! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAJ01VAmAKQ)


(Has it really been five years (http://www.fiveminute.net/forums/showpost.php?p=79694&postcount=694) since I shilled him?)


And I guess I never did a favorite video roundup...


Floating shelf (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhZHjA-dkAM)
"Book" gift box (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LXxQreDmW8)
Snowflakes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW5r4gVrtZQ)
Knitting box (including simple finger joint jig) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o36N_ZkSMCk)
Paper towel holder (with space for foil, plastic wrap, etc) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY9TkvB9f1o)
"Coffin" candy dish made out of pallet wood (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvHzKe7tYWA)
Piggy bank (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcJ6pULBEFw)
Flower pots (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjSqfgLJayw)

[Nate the Great]

The Nostalgia Nerd talks about the history of what we now call "legacy ports" before the invention of USB. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mi0kLLLAOs)



Ah, computing in the '90s. There are things that I miss about those days and things I definitely don't.

[Nate the Great]

What does it take to catch every Pokemon in Gen III?
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1M_DBu9zgEk)


Without cheating, that is.



Between all of the games you need five complete runthroughs plus three more partial playthroughs plus accessing a GameCube bonus disc.



Yikes.

[Nate the Great]

Your daily dose of weirdness...


A fish store stuck googly eyes on their old fish to make them look a bit fresher... (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fish-googly-eyes-caught_us_5b8b3239e4b0162f47241e6b)

[Nate the Great]

You'll remember the time that Lex Luthor stole 40 cakes (https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/lex-luthor-took-forty-cakes)...


Well, a cosplayer actually built his own 40-cake cart (https://twitter.com/Kirinn/status/1035715226568716288) to go with his Lex Luthor costume!

[Nate the Great]

For today's entry in the category "weirdest juxtaposition of pop culture characters in the same advertisement"...


Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, and Mr. Magoo! (http://www.lileks.com/60s/chain/drugs/196003Drug/3.html)


It makes Batman meeting Pokemon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWEXzugw4Gw) look positively mundane.

[Nate the Great]

Apparently there's a color called "DeLorean Gray"... (https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/comments/9d7nhj/when_the_name_delorean_is_so_well_known_it/)


Aren't DeLoreans made out of stainless steel? Furthermore, the grout in the picture looks like a pretty generic silver to me, you might as well call it "Duct Tape Gray"...


PS: I'm enough of a literary nerd to say that this is The Picture of DeLorean Gray. Some puns are painful, you know...

[Nate the Great]

Mathologer proves e and pi are transcendental. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyoH_vgiqXM)


While I'm a math enthusiast on the lower levels, when you get up this high I get a headache.

[Nate the Great]

Time for another Star Trek DeviantArt Day, I think. Apologies in advance for any duplicates, at this point I've done so many that it would take too long to check every time.

A shot of the TOS crew (https://www.deviantart.com/hnautumn/art/Boldly-Go-598530176), probably during one of those end-of-episode joking sessions.
Our Man Bashir-style movie poster (https://www.deviantart.com/undead-medic/art/Our-Man-Bashir-174164576)
Sarek and Amanda (https://www.deviantart.com/tafafa/art/Amanda-and-Sarek-334395756)
Kirk, Spock, and Gillian
(https://www.deviantart.com/sarahmiele/art/RIP-Leonard-Nimoy-517399553)Dixon Hill meets the Eleventh Doctor (https://www.deviantart.com/charliekirchoff/art/Star-Trek-Doctor-Who-311067422)
The Vulcan perspective on the meaning of romantic finger-touching (https://www.deviantart.com/carrinth/art/Star-Trek-A-Matter-of-Perspective-364464388)
Given Bones' expression, I think Spock just zinged him... (https://www.deviantart.com/sharpbrothers/art/Star-Trek-Archive-Kirk-122961191)
A great group shot, but that movie version of the emblem is an obvious anachronism... (https://www.deviantart.com/michkelleher/art/Star-Trek-Ultimate-Edition-114043692)
The TNG crew encounters the weirdness of TOS. Try to see how many episodes you can see referenced... (https://www.deviantart.com/kassandraheller/art/Star-Trek-364348213)
Kirk shoots a Stormtrooper, and Leia is impressed. Does anyone else think that Leia looks more like Janeway? (https://www.deviantart.com/robert-shane/art/Star-Wars-meets-Star-Trek-Kirk-and-Leia-351517532)

[Nate the Great]

Awhile back I posted the Daicon IV opening (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KUsRbMUpEU), an early AMV that squeezed just about every element of pop culture (including an Enterprise NCC-1701 cameo) into one Electric Lights Orchestra video.



Well, to celebrate the 50th anniversary someone made a music video of Star Trek clips only (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4XrdFdVb6Y). Not just canon clips, but images from across the fandom, including the Dusty Abell TOS collage (https://www.dustyabell.com/products/poster) that I like so much.

[Nate the Great]

Courtesy of Reddit, a collage of the Trek musicians (https://i.redd.it/ghbv7ucmeil11.jpg).



As one Redditer put it, where's Riker and his trombone?

[Nate the Great]

You can beat Super Mario Bros U without touching a single coin! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDZjJ0OREaA)


It takes a lot of work to have exactly the right suit on at the right time and to be going through the right levels in the right order, but it's possible.


Wow...

[Nate the Great]

Clips of every word spoken in A New Hope, rearranged to be in alphabetical order. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GFW-eEWXlc)


"Why would anyone do this?" I hear you ask.



To rip off CGP Grey, "Because...Internet."

[Nate the Great]

By sheer coincidence I happen to run into a strip about pirates during my latest Questionable Content binge on Talk Like a Pirate Day. (https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1331)

[Nate the Great]

This is a joke that got me today on Facebook, apparently it's been around long enough for a "few" variants to appear. (https://www.google.com/search?q=theres+a+fine+line+between+a+numerator+an d+a+denominator&num=30&safe=active&client=firefox-b-1&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwicmqv87MzdAhWFzIMKHR8LBiYQ_AUIDigB&biw=1173&bih=778)

[Nate the Great]

The King's Quest V Ant Song German fandub (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX8bJrvcxsY)


Just a bit of randomness to spice up your day.


(Original for comparison (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjWZ7FAsYHk))

[Nate the Great]

As today's entry in "unlikely musical couples for 100, Alex"...


Bing Crosby and Ethel Merman as sweethearts in "Anything Goes". (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCfqIXiLxSE&index=66&list=PLiw5XuEFblttHCAv35zNbKdH4mQxr0kv9)

[Nate the Great]

Tom Hanks as Mister Rogers in the first image from the upcoming biopic... (https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tom-hanks-everyones-favorite-neighbor-first-photo-upcoming-mister-rogers-biopic-205543988.html)


Yikes. Definite Uncanny Valley vibes here...

[Nate the Great]

Element14 (formerly the Ben Heck Show) hacks ROB the Robot to be useful. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xlwl_M673Gs)



He's a voice-activated emulator and projector now.

[Nate the Great]

It's too soon for another Star Trek Deviantart Day, but I'm in the mood for another DD, so let's go with the Hitchhiker's Guide this time!



As a prelude, H2G2 and Doctor Who have long had an informal connection, but Martin Freeman has also opened the door to Sherlock crossovers.



These buttons would be cool to have (https://www.deviantart.com/eitanya/art/HitchHiker-s-Guide-1-buttons-168847735)
The MLP:FIM cast reimagined as the H2G2 cast (https://www.deviantart.com/zimvader42/art/The-HitchHiker-s-Guide-To-Friendship-321927248)
Babel Fish cross-stitch (https://www.deviantart.com/jen-random/art/Babel-Fish-cross-stitch-pattern-Hitchhiker-s-Guide-470978305)
Sherlock as Ford Prefect in the bar 12 minutes before the end of the Earth (https://www.deviantart.com/sadieb798/art/Consulting-Hitchhikers-414319754)

Marvin joins Baymax, EVE, and BB-8 in a selfie (https://www.deviantart.com/conniekidd/art/Baymax-And-Friends-Selfie-531996901)
The My Little Pony version of Zaphod
(https://www.deviantart.com/philo5/art/Zaphod-Beeblebrox-274182520)
Arthur's homemade Scrabble tile message recreated with real Scrabble tiles (https://www.deviantart.com/mezzotessitura/art/multiply-six-by-eight-127844305)


And since a Star Trek crossover is inevitable...
Zaphod joins characters from Doctor Who, Star Wars, Men in Black, and Red Dwarf at Quarks (https://www.deviantart.com/emperornortonii/art/Doctor-Who-Goes-To-Quark-s-58359603)

[Nate the Great]

LEGO Enterprise (no bloody A, B, C, or D!) bridge (https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/9ogevh/had_a_go_at_building_the_bridge_of_the_uss/)


Good hair choices for Chekov and Sulu, but Kirk could be better (I guess they didn't want to reuse Chekov's hair).


I'll assume that the catgirl is M'Ress, but who is that Andorian? The only notable Andorian Enterprise crewman I can think of is Thelin, but he wore blue, not red.

[Nate the Great]

Today is the 10th Anniversary of Atop the Fourth Wall (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYHJoZPNWW4)

[Nate the Great]

Apparently the question of who owns the Statue of Liberty is more complicated than I thought...


CGP Grey strikes again (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgZ1f4ACZBQ).

[Nate the Great]

A bunch of Star Trek props (costumes, sketches, etc.) are up for auction... (https://propstore.com/products/?keyword=star%20trek)


Which one would you want as a personal momento if you could have any lot for free? You can't turn around and sell it immediately, FYI.


A set of four tribbles from "Trials and Tribbleations" (https://propstore.com/product/star-trek-deep-space-nine/lot-310-tv-treasures-set-of-tribbles/) is obvious, of course, but I'd rather have the William Ware Theiss collection (https://propstore.com/product/star-trek-the-original-series/lot-294-tv-treasures-william-theiss-collection-of-vintage-merchandise/).

[NAHTMMM]

Some of those hand-drawn things look pretty good.

[Nate the Great]

The Detective Pikachu trailer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1roy4o4tqQM)


Ugh. You'd think a multibillion dollar corporation could make CG "realistic" Pokemon that look better than the ones in Pokemon Apokeypse! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDX1m0Y2Vkg)

[Nate the Great]

I thought I'd seen every weird piece of Star Trek merchandise (I even had an old book that cataloged such things years ago), but no...


The official Star Trek Astro-Helmet! (http://www.cracked.com/article_26012_5-pieces-movie-merchandise-that-missed-point-entirely.html)

[Nate the Great]

William Goldman died today. (https://variety.com/2018/film/news/william-goldman-dead-celebrities-react-1203030513/)


Ouch. Just...ouch.


Guess it's time for some Princess Bride clips, then...


Storybook Love (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kaa2Ikl5OA)
Westley vs Inigo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDlZ_SXx5gA)

Westley vs Fezzik (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lISBP_fPg1s)
Westley vs Vizzini (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EkBuKQEkio&t)
Buttercup's Nightmare (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWqU1ynYSrM)

Miracle Max (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4ftmOI5NnI)
The Wedding (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lISBP_fPg1s)

[Nate the Great]

Adam Savage makes a guitar case for Eric Idle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iIZ9rnS6HU)


Talk about an unusual crossover. Plus Eric intends to take the guitar to a party to hang out with Weird Al and Bobcat Goldthwait. You can't make stuff like this up.

I'm going to throw in a link to Stephen Hawking singing the Galaxy Song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfcC6FYyL4U), just 'cause. And a link to Adam making a traveling case for a stuffed beaver (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPLvkrtqkJ8).

[Nate the Great]

Courtesy of Reddit...


Ocarina of Time songs played on steel drums. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=75&v=NhKqJzbr2n0)


I was most impressed with the strumming across the ridges of the drum to emulate the harp notes of the Great Fairy Fountain theme.



And on only a vaguely related note:


Sesame Street shows how to make a steel drum out of a barrel. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MRl63M-fCk)

[Nate the Great]

As a Stan Lee tribute 331Erock does what he calls "Spider-Man (1967) Meets Metal (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRhSQd3ohls)", but I'd put it past "metal" into a more solemn, formal direction that I can't quite pin a simple name to.

[Nate the Great]

I don't know how much you guys know about the FASA RPGs from the early '80s. I didn't know about them until relatively recently myself.



Anyway, they had a pre-Miranda class (i.e. a TOS version of the Miranda class) called the Anton class.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF2d66R5my4)

[Nate the Great]

Stan Lee Deviantart Day!


A group of his characters gather to celebrate him (https://www.deviantart.com/j-scott-campbell/art/Stan-Lee-Marvel-Tribute-345332702)
Stan as a Green Lantern (https://www.deviantart.com/thesometimers/art/Green-Lantern-Stan-Lee-215179779)
Stan wears a costume that's piecemealed from his characters (https://www.deviantart.com/toddnauck/art/Stan-Lee-451539023)
Stan as Captain Universe (https://www.deviantart.com/doctorkoan/art/Stan-Lee-112802467)
Stan as Spider-Man (https://www.deviantart.com/nathanartuz/art/RIP-STAN-LEE-772422714)
A demotivator based on Stan Lee's cameo in Nightcat (https://www.deviantart.com/songue/art/Motivation-Stan-Lee-374177995) (reviewed by Linkara here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHNLdXMsxZA&t=24m47s))
Stan being dusted by the Infinity Gauntlet (https://www.deviantart.com/jum10/art/Goodbye-Stan-Lee-772380149)
Kirby after absorbing Stan's powers (https://www.deviantart.com/bloodysamoan/art/Lee-and-Kirby-257289974)
Stan as a pony, complete with Spider-Symbol cutie mark (https://www.deviantart.com/munktransformerlover/art/Rest-in-peace-Stan-Lee-772479526)

Stan as a Watcher, along with Siegel and Shuster, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko (https://www.deviantart.com/djake/art/True-Believers-772647287)

[Nate the Great]

In celebration of Mickey Mouse's 90th birthday, check out some truly hideous Mickey cakes from cakewrecks.com! (http://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2018/11/16/hey-mickey-youre-so-ugly.html)

[Nate the Great]

I haven't linked to Mariachi Entertainment System in over a year, but today in honor of Stan Lee they did a mariachi version of the Avengers theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKwyYouf5lY).

[Nate the Great]

Today is the 20th anniversary of the North American release of Ocarina of Time. I'll try to avoid duplication of prior OOT links (hehe), except for the first one.



A 10th Anniversary fan video put together by David Erick Ramos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE7z8X5SpUo) (I still remember him as docjazz4, ah the days when YouTube didn't force you to use your real name)


The OOT Randomizer, (https://github.com/AmazingAmpharos/OoT-Randomizer/releases)
as long as you have a OOT ROM you can have this program spit out a randomized version. Everything, including items, Heart Pieces, skulltulas, songs, etc. is moved around in a way that guarantees you can still beat the game. Even if you don't want to play it, watch a Let's Play on YouTube, it's fun!


20th Anniversary Piano Medley (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypX5bCQBoac)


Five-Minute OOT by me (http://www.fiveminute.net/zelda/ocarinaoftime.html), yeah it's blatant schilling, but at least it's schilling of an inferior product (still waiting for Z to edit my Master Quest fiver draft...)

[Nate the Great]

A man attempts parkour in a Spider-Man Noir costume. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=85&v=Ze4VO8YrFAM)



Of course he loses the hat a lot, it reminds me of the Mario parkour video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67qqEcGDC0s).

[Nate the Great]

In honor of the 20th anniversary of Ocarina of Time, a fandub. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wL6dQh9TQY)


Incidentally, to answer my PNQ of ages past (http://www.fiveminute.net/forums/showthread.php?p=79664&highlight=deku#post79664), they use "Deh-coo."



Then again, they pronounce Mido as "Mee-doh" instead of "Mie-doh" like I've always done. Of course, if these guys are named after the musical notes, I suppose "Mee-doh" is more accurate.

[Nate the Great]

David Erick Ramos and the Game Music Ensemble perform the Ocarina of Time title theme. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIRtmg50k7A)

[Nate the Great]

Tested shows off some props (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK0LDHPZxvw) from the Adam West Batman show to advertise an auction of movie memorabilia.



Auction catalog here (https://us.propstoreauction.com/view-auctions/catalog/id/146/). As before, if you could have (and not resell!) one item for free, which one?



Many shows are represented here.

* I was surprised to see the Seaquest DSV items, I was a big fan of that show back in the day.

* I'm also surprised to see things from the prior Captain America movies, they were such big flops.

* And costumes from In Search of Dr. Seuss, yikes! (meaningless aside: Patrick Stewart cameo clip here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJX9lwkHsBM))
* The Dreamer of Oz! I saw that special (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1wveL698Ig) on TV when it aired!
* Power Rangers, wow.
* Of course there are TOS props as well (https://us.propstoreauction.com/view-auctions/catalog/id/146/?page=10). I find the Theiss drawings cool. The Tantalus colony patch looks cool. That Theiss collection looks familiar, did it not sell at the other auction?


I guess I'm boring, I'd still want the Theiss drawings or DS9 tribbles, although the Frank Gorshin Riddler suit is tempting.

[Nate the Great]

EC Henry theorizes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnbmZ6Z7WU0) why the 1701 refit (the ONLY refit *coughDiscoverynoncanoncough*) features angled "struts" (*coughpyloncough*).



His two main theories:
* More area of contact with both the hull and nacelles allows for more efficient and safer transfer of forces. Fair enough.
* If the support structures for the nacelles go deep into the secondary hull and meet in the middle (aft of Engineering), then having angled pylons makes more room for a larger shuttlebay behind them. Also fair enough.


Of course, the real reason is that it looks fancier than the TOS pylons and just looks more aerodynamic and cooler.

[Nate the Great]

I didn't know that Aladdin was present at the Nativity (hehe...) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/127520452@N04/31194506277/in/dateposted-public/)

(https://www.flickr.com/photos/127520452@N04/31194506277/in/dateposted-public/)
I also didn't know that the Star of Bethlehem was a giant snowflake. Hehe.


(you can see Aladdin better in this shot (https://www.flickr.com/photos/127520452@N04/46133545511/in/dateposted-public/))

[Nate the Great]

We last discussed Star Trek in Sound and Vision over ten years ago (http://www.fiveminute.net/forums/showthread.php?p=72084&highlight=%22star+trek+sound+vision%22#post72084), but last May Forgotten Trek dedicated a page to it (http://forgottentrek.com/star-trek-in-sound-and-vision/). They bring up the most recent Wayback Machine capture (https://web.archive.org/web/20030804153800/http://stinsv.com), which is from 2003.



STISV was one of my first Trek sites, and although I know it was definitely a relic of the dialup era, I still miss it.

[Nate the Great]

Matias Wandel has to take a break from larger woodworking projects for health reasons, but that doesn't mean he has to stop uploading videos. He just finds other things to make while he recovers.



A LEGO machine that can automatically adjust a gate's width to see how narrow of a crack a mouse can squeeze through. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHOx39xJack)

[Nate the Great]

I'm a fan of fractal patterns, and Numberphile put up a video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UtCli1SgjI) on a new one today...

[Nate the Great]

What if you do the Westphall multiverse thing starting with the DCAU?


Complete insanity.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHrfmQ6rKpg)


At minimum, the DC animation universe intersects with the Scooby Doo multiverse, the TMNT multiverse, the Looney Toons multiverse, etc.

[Nate the Great]

Fanart of Data dressed up in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume. (https://imgur.com/gallery/nK9a2C3#LtxHutF)


Or at least that's supposed to be Data. And don't ask me why he has a TOS-era Cochrane Delta on his shoulder strap.

[Nate the Great]

Today's Link Thread post is in honor of Fred Astaire.



First, some quotes from the comment thread for the "The Way You Look Tonight" link below:


"Fred Astaire is the best singer of songs the movie world ever knew. His phrasing has individual sophistication that is utterly charming. Presumably the runner-up would be Bing Crosby, a wonderful fellow, though he doesn't have the unstressed elegance of Astaire." --- Oscar Levant



Question: What great singers of the past do you wish had sung your music? Stephen Sondheim: Nobody really. Well, actually, Fred Astaire.



"As a dancer he stands alone, and no singer knows his way around a song like Fred Astaire." --- Irving Berlin

"He has a remarkable ear for intonation, a great sense of rhythm and what is most important, he has great style - style in my way of thinking is a matter of delivery, phrasing, pace, emphasis, and most of all presence." --- Bing Crosby

"Astaire can't do anything badly." --- Jerome Kern


The Way You Look Tonight (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIW_Ah0wg-w)
Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc77Vlb-yAE)
Isn't This a Lovely Day to Be Caught in the Rain (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl6FLfHTC68&list=PLl7xEuhnmF0YJX2VTfwIoGEGkdToz30m7&index=8)
Let's Call the Whole Thing Off (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOILZ_D3aRg&index=16&list=PLl7xEuhnmF0YJX2VTfwIoGEGkdToz30m7)
They Can't Take That Away From Me (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuufFgAMkGE&index=34&list=PLl7xEuhnmF0YJX2VTfwIoGEGkdToz30m7)
Nice Work if You Can Get It (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVfYFJv5lRM)
We're A Couple of Swells (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3aUAiLU0TI&index=2&list=PLwEk-3znt0ujLc8rzOdPcccSZy4ahBPGx)
A Couple of Song and Dance Men (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAHghAOTHdI)

[Nate the Great]

Kirk shows us how to play fizzbin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DeIExLcURQ)


I love how one commenter says "Still an easier game to learn than yugioh." I'm not so sure about that!

[Nate the Great]

It's Christmas-related Disney Short day in the Link Thread!


Donald's Snow Fight (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fIomAY6SYA)
Toy Tinkers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Q9DpJSuL0)
Pluto's Christmas Tree (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNndjpMRgtU&list=PLm53QZzLvgK6853vk8Bs8UtntD6kNaoh0)
The Cookie Carnival (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRB2YlQOSBI) (okay, not exactly Christmas, but the hero is a gingerbread man and there are candy canes all over the place)


Mickey's Christmas Carol deserves a category by itself
The short itself (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOhWEMsQ3as&list=PLUBMh08lRrrwpAXRSJ0auARRyEVzx1apm)
The book-and-cassette version (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5Mr7sTq_Ec)
"Oh What A Merry Christmas Day" by itself (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iDLKzs5AtA&t=48s)
OWAMCD instrumental organ cover (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMuo_UydMcI)
OWAMCD acapella cover (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sRZrZZnx64)

[Nate the Great]

A Facebook meme featuring one of my favorites, Danish Butter Cookies! (https://www.facebook.com/Guff/photos/a.595502643832947/2276877799028748/?type=3&theater)


It especially hit home with the sewing supplies angle. While I don't believe my mom ever used tins this big for sewing supplies, I do remember drawers full of little tins (closer to Altoid sized) of buttons and so forth.

[Nate the Great]

Someone took a Mousetrap board game and made it a component of a real mousetrap! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ogOkocvldw&feature=youtu.be)

[Nate the Great]

The weirdest pop culture mashup Nativity ever (https://www.facebook.com/paz/photos/a.462264797743/10151320600317744/?type=3&theater)


Batman as the Angel
Will Riker and Deanna Troi as Joseph and Mary
What looks like an Ultimate Muscle toy as Baby Jesus
A trio of Darth Vaders as the Wise Men
Bill and Ted as shepherds
A bunch of capsule toys as the sheep (meaningless aside, but that orange one reminds me of a Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends character)
And for some reason Metamorpho and a T-rex are there as well

[Nate the Great]

Adam Savage presents his Blade Runner Blimp replica (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEZX3-A63RY)


I've never seen Blade Runner, but this was still cool because whenever Spoony played a game or whatever that featured a blimp with huge screens on the sides he'd play the "Live the good life in the offworld colonies" clip.



Take away the huge screens, and a huge blimp flying through the city reminds me of how many of them appear in Batman The Animated Series (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XJ3HJXxDwc).

[Nate the Great]

This March is the 80th anniversary of Batman, and Watchtower Database has made a tribute video using the DCAU version to honor it. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47Pt3vUEDls)

[Nate the Great]

Courtesy of Reddit...


The Shiekah Pokeball! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=16&v=7WVSCneLySw)


I suddenly wonder about how an equivalent Millennium Pokeball would work (how many rules would you have to change, etc.)

[Nate the Great]

Carol Channing is dead.



Ouch.



A compilation of Whose Line is it Anyway clips (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWAXJEe7Ve0) featuring Ryan Stiles doing his trademark Carol Channing impersonation.

(Also an Amazing Thing I Learned Today) Carol narrating a Winnie the Pooh audiobook.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA4o_quzdtQ)
Carol and Ginger Rogers on What's My Line (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHg24FW5HgQ)
Carol as the White Queen in the 1985 Alice in Wonderland (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-jpV025fWo)
Carol and Gomer Pyle in a Corn Flakes commercial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILXvQ_b1M-c)
Carol on Sesame Street (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-UMlJhgQbY)
Carol on The Muppet Show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umBBROqIPjA) (note Miss Piggy in a Carol cosplay)

Lucille Ball imitates Carol (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi6mPkMwIQk)
Carol on the Rosemary Cloony Show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAuy6YedMFQ) (1956, possibly the youngest I've ever seen her)
Carol on the Red Skelton Show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0MGulBlg8s)(Carol kissing (or at least getting close to kissing) Red Skelton, you don't see that every day!)

[Nate the Great]

Today's piece of mathematical trivia courtesy of Numberphile is The Trapped Knight (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGQe8waGJ4w). I like math problems that involve chess boards just so long as I don't actually have to play chess. I may have mentioned that I'm not terribly good at chess.

[Nate the Great]

A collection of the inspirational speeches of Trek. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNu1cdISsvY)



Q: Jean-Luc, sometimes I think the only reason I come here is to listen to these wonderful speeches of yours.

[Nate the Great]

Mathologer tells us about what happens (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmdOmOCfo90) when you stack a bunch of circles within a box. There's some amazing geometry here.

[Nate the Great]

Level UP shows us what happens when Pong has Zelda Physics (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0D777KRsGY) (or rather, what happens when Link and Zelda play Pong using Zelda weapons...). It's interesting to see how Zelda weapon physics interact with Pong physics.

[Nate the Great]

Recently I read my "The Inner Light" fiver (http://www.fiveminute.net/nextgen/fiver.php?ep=theinnerlight) again, and one of my jokes seems a lot less funny these days...


Kamin: The world is doomed! You can fire me with a hefty pension for insanity now.
Administrator: Not on your life. First of all, you're right, and second of all we like to keep our insane elected officials where we can see them.
Kamin: But isn't a system of government like that doomed to failure?
Administrator: You'd think so, but it's not.

[Nate the Great]

Watchtower Database (if you like the DCAU you should subscribe) gives the equivalent of the Westphall Multiverse for the DCAU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHrfmQ6rKpg). Basically the DCAU touches all other versions of DC properties, the Scooby Doo multiverse (this also means that the whole Hannah Barbera multiverse is also linked in, but he doesn't mention that), the TMNT multiverse, Archie, the Green Hornet, the Bionic Woman, the (British) Avengers, the Looney Tunes/Freakazoid/Animaniacs multiverse, etc.



The phrase "turtles all the way down" comes to mind. This stuff will drive you insane if you let it.

[Nate the Great]

The evolution of the Enterprise D set over the series and Generations. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHXeGkCvmlU)



Yikes, I didn't notice most of this stuff!

[Nate the Great]

A guy restores an antique rusty cleaver. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS9PA6SuyyU)


The amazing part for me is when he drilled a hole down the middle of the handle with a stationary drill bit and a rotating handle on the lathe. Never saw that before!


It always impresses me when people take old things that nobody would pay more than a dollar for at a garage sale and transform them into something worth having. People who have tools and know how to use them.

[Nate the Great]

The Opportunity Mars Rover has officially died.
(https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/13/world/nasa-mars-opportunity-rover-trnd/index.html)


Of course I was reminded of when XKCD told the life of the Spirit Rover. (https://xkcd.com/695/)

[Nate the Great]

Mathology covers the Toroflux Paradox (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK7XR-wlpAk), which is related to Fibonacci Numbers.


I was already familiar with the basic optical illusion of rearranging puzzle pieces to create a rectangle one unit larger than the previous arrangement, but didn't know about the evolution or the relation to Fibonacci Numbers.


(Plus I love his shirt. "This Fibonacci joke is as bad as the last two you heard combined.")

[Nate the Great]

In honor of Valentine's Day, a fan's cover of "Be Mine Today" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkEF5geSk6s) from "Here Comes Peter Cottontail", plus the original if (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m7H3aGoJAM)you'd rather hear Casey Kasem sing it.


And now for some random romantic pop songs that I like:


Pokemon AMV for "Can't Help Falling in Love" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nosi_qeDl8w&index=6&t=0s&list=PLB28B299E68662213)
Teen Titans AMV for "I'm A Believer" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3N0K5TYvtA&index=17&list=PLB28B299E68662213)
Ranma AMV for "Everytime We Touch" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kjwlZeuSUY&list=PLB28B299E68662213&index=24)
Disney/Anastasia AMV for "She's So High" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig4iLiSKZl4&index=65&list=PLB28B299E68662213)
Disney AMV for "Kiss Me" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpqJ6KkaaEQ&index=66&list=PLB28B299E68662213)
Cardcaptor Sakura AMV for "Accidentally in Love" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZbZqrtC-ic&list=PLB28B299E68662213&index=97)
Cardcaptor Sakura AMV for "Everywhere" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cOkslvE-P8&index=100&list=PLB28B299E68662213)
Disney AMV for "She's So High Above Me" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65By7WQb814&index=101&list=PLB28B299E68662213)
AlbinoBlackSheep/Lemon Demon's "Geeks in Love" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbDV1afDSn0&index=124&list=PLB28B299E68662213)
Pokemon AMV for "Sometimes" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXA5PnYvBnU&list=PLB28B299E68662213&index=126)
Ranma AMV for "I Won't Say I'm In Love" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSXa7QM7OKQ&list=PLB28B299E68662213&index=133)
Ranma AMV for "Seven Things" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICKF_ArV0wM&index=137&list=PLB28B299E68662213)
Disney/Anastasia AMV for "Kiss the Girl" (Ashley Tisdale cover) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qHAoQCZQCE)
Anne of Green Gables LAMV for "Crazy For This Girl" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDe_TvltLmQ&list=PL3A40A96F46174EA9&index=20)(PS, the existence of LAMV for live action music video is my Amazing Thing that I learned today)
"We Can Fly Away" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h7-kKEj4vU&list=PL3A40A96F46174EA9&index=38), a song from The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns, one of my St. Patrick's traditions, up there with Darby O'Gill. Like many others I intend to play this one at my wedding, if I ever have one.
I Fight Dragons presents "The Power of Love" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl6Ery4Q_uE&list=PL3A40A96F46174EA9&index=151), a cover from Back to the Future

Anne of Green Gables LAMV for "Just the Girl I'm Looking For" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7AlUuDjX64&list=PL3A40A96F46174EA9&index=246)


And of course you can't forget Tom Lehrer's warped versions of love songs:
The Masochism Tango (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3FeZShuHQw&index=3&t=0s&list=PL520FA475863B4C0C)
She's My Girl (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfJiVwfoRkU&index=20&list=PL520FA475863B4C0C)
I Hold Your Hand In Mine (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L6n4IZf-pE&list=PL520FA475863B4C0C&index=30)
When You Are Old and Grey (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVxF9_L_X3A&list=PL520FA475863B4C0C&index=32)
I shall omit I Got It From Agnes in the name of good taste, shocking as that may seem. You can find it for yourself easily enough.


And now some romantic movie endings:
Anne of Avonlea (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cNMrfQkh18)
Little Women (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1dVEAdYuaM)
Serendipity (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E410LehbHKM)
You've Got Mail (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55oQA4cwd6M)
Sleepless in Seattle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeY1mkXqKgk)


How about some "I'm in Love and that's Great" songs?
Maria (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyofWTw0bqY)
Something There (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UetJAFogqE4)
'S Wonderful (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EjF-I6aMc0)
Almost Like Being In Love (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qYCDEsersw&t=72s)
Lovely Lonely Man (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de7mfDSS8Rk)
I Could Have Danced All Night (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ezy50aY6Bg)
I'm in Love With A Wonderful Guy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xny7G9YrrBU)
I am Going to Like It Here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYnfUVM3v2E) (have any of you ever seen Flower Drum Song, possibly the most obscure of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals?)

[Nate the Great]

So an artist named Jeff Carlisle creates drawings of lots of sci-fi/fantasy pop culture characters



Another Night At the Warp Core Cafe (http://jeffcarlisle.com/node/514)


Let's see how many I can name:


Ships past the windows: Defiant, Millennium Falcon, Star Destroyer, Enterprise D and No Bloody A, B, C, or D, 23rd Century Romulan Bird of Prey, D'Deridex Romulan Bird of Prey, Klingon Battle Cruiser, Voyager, I assume that's the Serenity, a Borg Cube, the Iron Giant, a Y-Wing, I think that's a ship from Starchaser,



Ships and robots in the air inside: Max from Flight of the Navigator, EVE and WALL-E, Weebo from Flubber, Nomad


Upper Level and flying characters: A TOS woman, an Orion Slave Girl, some big-brained aliens from the Tatooine cantina, one of Jabba the Hutt's tentacle-headed slave girls, Data (playing a Lirpa instead of a violin for some reason), a Porg, Marvin, Superman, a Ceti Eel carrier, Impossible Man, a Gremlin, I think that's the robot from It Conquered the Word, the Robot from Lost in Space, Lion-O, Jabba the Hutt,



Lower Level: Quark, Guinan, Bea Arthur's character from the Holiday Special, Babylon 5 characters (Londo, G'Kar, a Minbari, the first officer, it's been awhile okay?), K-9, a character from Planet of the Apes, that blue-skinned girl from Farscape (my mom watched it, I didn't), Dathan, Barf, the main characters from Dark Crystal (amazingly I watched Nash's review of that movie only yesterday!), Yoda, E.T., the alien from Mars Attacks, Howard the Duck, Spock, McCoy, Picard, Riker, Kai Opaka, the Men in Black, a Jem'Hadar, Crow T. Robot and another MST3K robot whose name escapes me at the moment, Judge Q, a Mugato, a Gorn, some Viidians, that guy from Dune, Kirk and Han Solo arm-wrestling, an Ewok, C3-PO, R2D2, Qui-gon Jinn, Finn and that girl from Force Awakens, Uhura, Alf, the Great Gazoo

[Nate the Great]

I got a piece of spam today that really made me laugh. It's similar to another spam message from the same guy ("Greg Wilford", if that's his real name) here (http://https://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=362809). Different dead imaginary millionaire and different date, but you get the idea.

[Nate the Great]

Peter Tork of the Monkees died today. (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0868074/)


While I like a few Monkees songs, I remember him most from the pseudo-Monkees reunion on Boy Meets World. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M80AWzxfe8U)

[Nate the Great]

EC Henry discusses the varying colors of Federation phasers. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjaRCAgWjkw)


I never noticed how much the colors changed! You'd think this could be standardized easily. My first guess is that this variation comes from a similar place as greenscreens and bluescreens. That is, depending on the background that the phaser beam has to be superimposed upon, certain colors work better for the superimposing process or to provide contrast with the background.



P.S. I never noticed that in The Best of Both Worlds the modulating phasers made such different colors.

[Nate the Great]

In honor of today's "The Savage Curtain" post, I'd like to repost Melodysheep's Spock tribute (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vNBA8mHFf8), since it includes a powerful line from the episode.

[Nate the Great]

Someone built a Starship Enterprise model that can fly around underwater as though it's space.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b056Enh1oCE)

[Nate the Great]

I'm not sure if I ever schilled James Lileks (http://www.lileks.com/index.html) before. Long story short, he's a journalist from my homeland of Minnesota who covers lots of ephemera from Minnesota and beyond, including a lot of midcentury pop culture.



But the point of this post is his entry for today, a page from a 1986 Sears catalog. Lots of solid-color shirts and sweatshirts. "Not just for Yangs, but for Coms, too! If you get that reference, congrats. (http://lileks.com/80s/catalog/sears1986/31.html)" I got the reference, that's for sure. Of course, "The Omega Glory" features Yangs and Kohms and they didn't wear pastel clothing, that was more of a TNG-era colonist thing. I know it's not an exact match, but the first thing that came to mind was Kevin Uxbridge.

[Nate the Great]

Matthias Wandel strikes again (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kK3xF1REHo)! His space heater isn't powerful enough to heat the whole room, so he sets up a camera to detect when he moves and a computer to rotate the heater to point at wherever he is.


The commenters had fun with the gag where he's about to buy a Lazy Susan, but decides to just build one instead. Matthias isn't the kind of guy that would ever buy something that he could make, especially if you can do it with just wood and skateboard bearings.

[Wowbagger]

I'm not sure if I ever schilled James Lileks (http://www.lileks.com/index.html) before. Long story short, he's a journalist from my homeland of Minnesota who covers lots of ephemera from Minnesota and beyond, including a lot of midcentury pop culture.

Greetings, fellow Minnesotan!

Lileks is great. And he's not one of those journalists who saw all of TOS 15 times in 1973 and then stopped. He watched and very correctly adored Enterprise, despite his incorrect, Zeke-like opinions about the finale (http://lileks.com/bleats/archive/17/0917/092817.html). And he's watching Discovery. Dude's the real deal.

[Nate the Great]

Mathologer shows us how to use parabolic dishes to project holograms. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UapiTAxMXE)



Not really, but it's still a cool optical trick.

[Nate the Great]

Ceave Gaming shows us a rather complicated Mario Maker trick. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQmfbfRWiKU)


Yikes. Spoony's remark about Final Fantasy Symposia comes to mind immediately. All of the work chainsawing Ocarina of Time apart seems like small potatoes compared to this.

[Nate the Great]

Ceave Gaming replicates mechanics "introduced" in Mario Maker 2 using Mario 1. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqQ3ujJfnGA)


I'm reminded of those Minecraft players who replicate mechanical computers within the Minecraft world. Or reproduce Wintergatan's Marble Machine.... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_QgyahFHYk)

[Nate the Great]

It's "Online Reviewers Show How Bad Old Kid's Movies That Nate Used to Like Really Are" Day!


Happily Ever After (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qqhH8Kw37Y)
Pinocchio in Outer Space (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fosHqoo_KaQ)
The Adventures of the American Rabbit (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3sbOZmD5hw)

[Nate the Great]

Shadiversity tackles the question of the real effectiveness of a double lightsaber. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQApbJ29QJQ)


Of course, the troubles with carrying around a double sword and a double lightsaber are different. Of course you have to wonder why lightsabers don't have crossguards. Do all Jedi wear lightsaber-proof gloves?

[Nate the Great]

Doris Day died today (https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-48257670)


Another example of a celebrity that I thought died decades ago still being alive in recent times. Yikes.



Sadly I haven't seen many of her films, but she was good in Calamity Jane.



Now some songs:


Happy Talk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0bpP_tfdpU&list=PLMNvPSb4oFOPJ--AHp46JOBefDeW3lsm_&index=22) from South Pacific.

Winter Wonderland (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHE0Jo82_34&list=PLMNvPSb4oFOPJ--AHp46JOBefDeW3lsm_&index=25) (I didn't know there was an introductory verse like White Christmas!)

Over the Rainbow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI1Bs9-09rI&list=PLMNvPSb4oFOPJ--AHp46JOBefDeW3lsm_&index=39)
Toyland (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEREtfRnwxM&list=PLMNvPSb4oFOPJ--AHp46JOBefDeW3lsm_&index=50) (as in Babes And...)
Cheek to Cheek (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BKPSg64Yec&list=PLMNvPSb4oFOPJ--AHp46JOBefDeW3lsm_&index=52) (sorry Doris, you did great, but Fred did it better (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILxo-TUkzOQ))
Nice Work if You Can Get It
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A58ecFDFPvQ&list=PLMNvPSb4oFOPJ--AHp46JOBefDeW3lsm_&index=56)
All I Do Is Dream of You (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEXRohSq9H8&list=PLMNvPSb4oFOPJ--AHp46JOBefDeW3lsm_&index=58)
People Will Say We're In Love (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lhGpv23-VQ&list=PLMNvPSb4oFOPJ--AHp46JOBefDeW3lsm_&index=61) (up the speed to 1.25 for a better experience)
Silver Bells (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlMYKPWcgIk&list=PLMNvPSb4oFOPJ--AHp46JOBefDeW3lsm_&index=65) (I'm starting to wonder if I've ever heard a bad version of this one...)
I've Grown Accustomed to His Face (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFbyts_JbbA&list=PLMNvPSb4oFOPJ--AHp46JOBefDeW3lsm_&index=71) (check the comments for a great Trek reference...)
The Sound of Music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Lq-sW7kO_U&list=PLMNvPSb4oFOPJ--AHp46JOBefDeW3lsm_&index=76) (the actual performance is perfectly adequate, but I have a problem with the meter and tempo, I'd up this one to 1.25 as well)
Here Comes Santa Claus (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZSNY94DABQ&list=PLMNvPSb4oFOPJ--AHp46JOBefDeW3lsm_&index=83) (is she slipping into a regional accent with this one? It's nice, but odd...)

[Nate the Great]

Tim Conway died today. (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tim-conway-dead-dies_n_5cdaecb8e4b0f7ba48abd07a) I repeat yesterday's "I didn't know the celebrity was still alive" comment.


I might know less about him than yesterday's deceased. My knowledge of the Carol Burnett Show is limited, Star Trek parody aside (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-tAyQAS6JY), but my parents were big fans of his work, especially the Apple Dumpling Gang films.


The Amazing Thing I Learned Today is how recent some of his work is, particularly Dreamworks' Dragons. Well, that and his work on Spongebob Squarepants, including video games.

[Nate the Great]

A robot built into a Rubik's Cube that will solve the cube in the most efficient way after you randomize it. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PGjTt4xkWM)


Yet another pointless yet very cool device.

[Nate the Great]

It's still a couple days until Towel Day, but Lofty Pursuits made their Babel Fish candy early this year (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64C0cGeb2_Y). Even if you don't like antique candy machines (and what kind of weirdo doesn't?), listen for a version of the origin of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that I've never encountered before.

[Nate the Great]

A roundup of how people around the world will celebrate Towel Day this year. (http://www.towelday.org/)

[Nate the Great]

A guy built a giant recreation of a LEGO helicopter that can actually hover because there are drone rotors on each corner. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7V14iY_4-E)


I was a huge LEGOmaniac as a kid, and it's always great to see a classic design from the time before licensed nonsense took over the industry.

[Nate the Great]

The Legal Eagle takes on the legal procedures used in "The Measure of a Man". (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVjeYW6S8Mo)


While scriptwriter Melinda Snodgrass was a lawyer before moving into writing, she did do a few things wrong.

[Nate the Great]

I was reminded of Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia (no, not the one hosted by Patrick Stewart (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAHfMoAq3T8)) today, so I had to track it down on YouTube.



The music from the first thirty seconds are a real nostalgic boot to the head. Yikes. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4Ocd3cYivA)



What reminded me of it? This clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXu-51KGQUY&t=0m31s) from the introduction to the Fairy Tales From Around the World intro.

[Nate the Great]

Mathias Wandel strikes again. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeLC_5s2VV4)


Why buy an expensive worklight when you can just wire a bulb to a few nails and jam the nails into the contacts of a battery to turn the thing on?


I mean, why not? Makes sense to me...

[Nate the Great]

Numberphile goes beyond Fibonacci numbers to Tribonacci numbers and shows us a new way to tile a plane. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMJflV_GUpU&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR31KdNTn_PmE-wb4fAr4TduNhSODpyUS_Pg9TbyH2gs782kf37si-B4WzE)



Like I've said before, I'm a topology geek and this stuff is fascinating to me.

[Nate the Great]

Announcement trailer for the new Commander Keen mobile game. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpneMd8xTFw)


As an old-school Apogee/3DRealms platformer fan, this appalls me. The question "who is this meant for" springs to mind immediately. Today's kids have no clue who Commander Keen is, so why should they care? And this is clearly not meant for the old-school DOS platformer fans, so why use Commander Keen?



I have to cleanse my mental palette with some Dopefission (https://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/dopefish).


And the amazing thing that I learned today was that the creator of Dopefission is Andrew Kepple AKA Too Much Spare Time, creator of the infamous Geeks in Love (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbDV1afDSn0) music video also from Newgrounds! And also that Kepple collaborated with AlbinoBlackSheep in the first place!


(And as an amazing sidenote, my research into the interconnectedness of these early Net video creators revealed the 10th Anniversary version of Potter Puppet Pals: The Mysterious Ticking Noise! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z09rvN3s9Kg))

[Nate the Great]

I'm sure I've mentioned Ashens here and there. Well, last week he was at a British gaming convention and did a presentation on horrible old video game cover art.



There was a horrible Star Trek fan game featuring horrible cover art of the horrible STTMP uniforms. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFF9O73iwko&t=14m26s)

[Nate the Great]

Courtesy of Facebook, the pop culture crossover DeLorean. (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10214328215418907&set=gm.3049823975089060&type=3&theater)


I can see Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, A-Team, Knight Rider, and Dukes of Hazzard. Am I missing anything? Possibly from that blue police light strip?

[NAHTMMM]

https://twitter.com/JoelCadieux/status/1111714010007629824

A man tells the true story of a crazy, unpleasant Maple Leafs owner, illustrated with LEGO. It looks like the actual story starts here: https://twitter.com/JoelCadieux/status/1112126945087516673

[Nate the Great]

The Doubleclicks perform "An Ode to Spot" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YWD51-Dhfk)


If you don't know who The Doubleclicks are, I wouldn't blame you. They still make some fun pop culture covers and filk songs. They're a fine example of how enthusiasm and good humor can compensate for technical errors. If you're a Tom Lehrer fan I'd also look for their cover of "L-Y".

[Nate the Great]

The first teaser for the live-action Mulan has arrived. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01ON04GCwKs)


I was surprised to see Rosalind Chao here, but I'm sure she'll do well.

[Nate the Great]

Courtesy of Reddit: Shelly Duval's Faerie Tale Theatre presents Puss in Boots (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqVD45Vp2TI)


There're even some Trek alumni in here: Ben Vereen (Geordi's dad, of course (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lko57vspHRk)), Alfre Woodard (haven't seen her performance as Lily in years (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeGMHbK4NlA), First Contact is not one of my favorite Trek films), Brock Peters (quite a few roles, including Admiral Cartwright (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW9WGibEF04) and Joseph Sisko (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWnfHXUwL6I)).


And the Amazing Thing That I Learned Today was that it was written by Jules Feiffer, who you should all know as the illustrator of The Phantom Tollbooth.

[Nate the Great]

I don't think I've shilled NateWantsToBattle yet (totally different Nate, I don't have a YouTube channel (anymore, long story...) or the musical talent to do this kind of stuff)...


Red's Theme from Pokemon Gen 1 mashed with the Digimon theme. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pql3uCu29vY&list=PLY5f8vtstsfgge34qN7liVQ1rSizVFuZx&index=26)


I still remember the idiots who called Digimon a Pokemon ripoff.

[NAHTMMM]

KJ was playing the Doubleclicks in the car just today. :)

http://www.horg.com/horg/

Scientific classification and documentation of the various types of, uh, whatever you call the bread closure tags. Turns out there are a lot. It reminds me of the old Geocities(?) site that classified orange construction cones but only got up to like five "species".

[Nate the Great]

Extra Credits starts to teach us how to play MTG. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81kmeSSjzCs)


To me this is gobbledygook, even with years of Yu-gi-oh under my belt. My brother was the MTG player. All I really know about the game is Black Lotus and Blacker Lotus. And the term "trample" which I will always use instead of "piercing."

[NAHTMMM]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unexplained_sounds

The ocean sounds weird sometimes.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallic_mean

There's more beyond the golden ratio.

http://www.abyssapexzine.com/wikihistory/

If time travelers had a discussion forum.

[Nate the Great]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l1UzDCuq14w

Alternate History Hub tackles the Question of what would happen if the Great Lakes never existed. As a Minnesotan this of course interests me. In case you don't want to watch the video the highlights are that the Revolutionary War never happens, the South tries to secede from England, Canada doesn't stay French very long, Napolean never sells the Lousiana Purchase, etc.

[Nate the Great]

Here's where I'd be posting a link to the new Little Women trailer if I wasn't using an iPad. Highlights of my response:

Emma Watson is Meg and not Jo? I suppose she feels that she's met her rebellious bookworm quota between Hermione and Belle, but Meg? Really? The older Amy would've been a better fit. And I would've thought she'd have had her fill of screen pregnancies after Noah.


Like many others, I hold the 1994 Winona Ryder version as the standard which all others will be measured by. Katharine Hepburn's version was okay, but I actually prefer the '80s British version over it. The modern Lea Thompson version from last year was okay, but nothing spectacular.

Too much Meg and Amy, not enough Beth in the trailer. Furthermore using Laurie as only a romantic foil in the trailer was a mistake, he fills so many more roles in the story than that.

[DrWho42]

The Doubleclicks perform "An Ode to Spot" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YWD51-Dhfk)


If you don't know who The Doubleclicks are, I wouldn't blame you. They still make some fun pop culture covers and filk songs. They're a fine example of how enthusiasm and good humor can compensate for technical errors. If you're a Tom Lehrer fan I'd also look for their cover of "L-Y".love the doubleclicks!

[NAHTMMM]

https://gfycat.com/easyfrighteninganole

An impressive light show on a hockey rink.

[DrWho42]

Frog Deals with Disgusting Beetle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-CgWwrQ21A)

[Nate the Great]

Here's where I'd post a link to the Star Trek: Picard trailer if I wasn't on an iPad right now.

I'm disturbed by the lack of plot hints being given in the name of pandering. To me this is a very bad sign, a sign that the creators don't trust their writing to stand up on it's own. By all means be vague, but the idea should be to make us ask "is that scene supposed to mean A or B", not "I have no idea what is going on!"

[Nate the Great]

A podcast interviews Phil Farrand. (http://www.trek.fm/literary-treks/236)


He certainly doesn't sound like I thought he would. He also recaps why there won't be more Nitpicker's Guides. I had long gone with "he can't risk spending this much time on something that might get him sued by Paramount." Whether Paramount could succeed in suing him (short version: no, but it would still be a huge hassle for him to prove that they can't). I didn't know that he was planning a Star Wars guide including the novels. I didn't know that it wasn't the Trek lawyers that scared off his publishers, it was the Wars lawyers.



I almost wonder if this should be on the Amazing Things I Learned Today thread, but that seems to have died and I don't like necroposting if I can avoid it.

[Nate the Great]

A new contender for "most obscure Star Trek music track to be covered by an orchestra."



The Bartender Bit from Trouble With Tribbles. (https://www.amazon.com/Bartender-Star-Trek-Original-1966/dp/B002D51ENC)


I was surprised to find this. Of course an orchestra would cover the main themes, the Inner Light, etc., but something this minor was a surprise.

[Nate the Great]

Star Trek Deviantart Day Six!


Has it really been a year?


A rather lovely atmospheric shot of Voyager with Delta Flyer and Type-9 shuttle (the Cochrane, I expect). (https://www.deviantart.com/overseer/art/Above-the-Clouds-584917156)


The TOS crew. My only real problem here is that Chekov looks a bit puffy. (https://www.deviantart.com/joejusko/art/STAR-TREK-105633141)



TOS meets Dr. Who (specifically Eleven). Since when are Daleks red and blue? And don't ask me why they're facing TNG-era Klingons and Romulans... (https://www.deviantart.com/summerset/art/Star-Trek-vs-Dr-Who-196176108)


The TOS crew drawn in a way that reminds me of advertising mascots of the Sixties. Don't ask me why Chekov looks like he belongs in a Beatles cartoon more than Star Trek... (https://www.deviantart.com/zoestanleyarts/art/STAR-TREK-568612842)


A collection of the various times the crew dressed like it's the mid-20th century (give or take). (https://www.deviantart.com/trevorgrove/art/Star-Trek-Piece-of-the-Action-3483042) I wonder how Dixon Hill (the "real" one) would've handled the natives of Sigma Iotia II?


The TOS Big Three. Great art, but Bones looks a bit too scowly (even for him) if you ask me.
(https://www.deviantart.com/sharpbrothers/art/Star-Trek-Archive-Kirk-122961191)


Manga-style "Mirror, Mirror". Smug-looking Bones there... (https://www.deviantart.com/matsutakedo/art/Star-Trek-TOS-41-185784876)


A fist-bump from Manga Kirk and Manga Spock. I wonder why Spock's smiling that widely, is it spores or did he find out he hadn't killed Jim after all again? (https://www.deviantart.com/zombieisok/art/StarTrek-Homies-126065771)


The Teen Titans cosplaying as TOS characters.
(https://www.deviantart.com/glee-chan/art/Trek-Titans-398978535)


Crochet dolls of the TNG cast.
(https://www.deviantart.com/smapte/art/Li-l-Trekkies-TNG-Amigurumi-180306746)


Q meets Discord. At least it's supposed to be Q, the hair's too poofy and he's on the TOS bridge for some reason... (https://www.deviantart.com/artwork-tee/art/Hello-me-481075899)

[Nate the Great]

It's a shame this Trek-related pirate image wasn't posted for TLAPD last month. (https://www.reddit.com/r/startrekmemes/comments/dlhbqp/she_only_mentions_it_every_time_she_mentions_her/)

[Nate the Great]

I've already posted the Star Trek/Cheers mashups, so why not some more?


TNG/MacGyver (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWnzLDoSiBo&list=PLXPr8Sg6BTK3R1xqYcebXGW-xWV0EMtAm&index=17)
TNG/Full House (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JnZGJRlk_o&list=PLXPr8Sg6BTK3R1xqYcebXGW-xWV0EMtAm&index=19)
TNG/Friends (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p7m1TAMAxs&list=PLXPr8Sg6BTK3R1xqYcebXGW-xWV0EMtAm&index=25)
DS9/Babylon 5 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G6XnNOcZzM&list=PLXPr8Sg6BTK3R1xqYcebXGW-xWV0EMtAm&index=27) (you knew this one had to exist...)
VOY/Stargate SG-1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtrD-fNltI4&list=PLXPr8Sg6BTK3R1xqYcebXGW-xWV0EMtAm&index=28)
VOY/Stargate Atlantis (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtIojmC-hM8&list=PLXPr8Sg6BTK3R1xqYcebXGW-xWV0EMtAm&index=51)
Kelvinverse (ugh)/Power Rangers in Space (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ini5sF6iImk&list=PLXPr8Sg6BTK3R1xqYcebXGW-xWV0EMtAm&index=53)
VOY/Brady Bunch (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=454AuTCioys&list=PLXPr8Sg6BTK3R1xqYcebXGW-xWV0EMtAm&index=63)(you heard me...)
VOY/Red Dwarf (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RQ5rpjs4G0&list=PLXPr8Sg6BTK3R1xqYcebXGW-xWV0EMtAm&index=71)
First Contact/Hawaii Five-O (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI2Ljtk-sLY&list=PLXPr8Sg6BTK3R1xqYcebXGW-xWV0EMtAm&index=81) (just in case you forgot that the Internet is weird...)
"Assignment: Earth"/Mission Impossible (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKPuLh49nvE&list=PLXPr8Sg6BTK3R1xqYcebXGW-xWV0EMtAm&index=85)
TOS/MacGyver (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzBShJ2dNfQ&list=PLXPr8Sg6BTK3R1xqYcebXGW-xWV0EMtAm&index=86)

[DrWho42]

star trek rabbits (https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EHNZk_VWkAAPWEW.jpg)

[Nate the Great]

Star Trek Deviantart Day Seven!


Mickey Mouse's gang as the TOS crew (https://www.deviantart.com/elera/art/In-Space-No-One-Can-Hear-Horace-Scream-399500375). As a fan of the classic Disney shorts the thing that bugs me the most is the shape of Horace Horsecollar's ears. For some reason they put Pete's ears on Horace's head.


A rather nice painting of the Big Seven. (https://www.deviantart.com/theangryangel/art/Star-Trek-TOS-Crew-166580809) I'm amused at Chekov's confusion.



The TNG crew in chibi style (https://www.deviantart.com/p-joart/art/Star-Trek-TNG-Chibi-Crew-122415058). Most are good, but Pulaski hardly looks like Muldaur.


The Stargate Atlantis cast as Star Trek aliens (https://www.deviantart.com/lairis77/art/Star-Trek-Atlantis-174613877)

[Nate the Great]

Manipulating Pokemon R/B/Y so you can battle Professor Oak. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmeoBFq0oW0)


I've said it before, it's amazing how some players can chainsaw video games apart to find new secrets.

[Nate the Great]

Two guys play Yu-gi-oh with decks that only have banned cards in them. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOU2L0NB9Ek)



Yikes, my knowledge of the metagame is horrifically out of date. I last dueled back when Synchro was current.

[Nate the Great]

I've posted a few hydraulic press videos before, but not from the Hydraulic Press Channel itself. It's a guy from Finland who has an interesting accent, even for a guy from Minnesota who's heard many variants of Scandinavian accents.


Anyway, today he's posted a video where he crushes pop cans to see how many he can fit into a Pringles can. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KxuxRAGN-c) Another situation where you ask "why?" and the only answer is "why not?"

[Nate the Great]

Apparently making "real" Mjolnir's by filling steel hammerhead shells with lead isn't good enough, so the Hacksmiths decided to fill one with ninety pounds of tungsten instead. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFnJ2tUBaLI)

[Nate the Great]

I haven't shilled Bootleg Zones for two and a half years (http://www.fiveminute.net/forums/showpost.php?p=80818&postcount=871), but when Phelous posts a Star Trek bootleg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJQhXMC1FHY), it's time for an update.



The Enterprise-D model looks pretty good, but why they'd bundle it with MUSCLE (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinkeshi) minifigs I have no idea. I remember when Ultimate Muscle (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinnikuman#Ultimate_Muscle:_The_Kinnikuman_Legacy) was on the air, but I didn't watch it all that much.

[Nate the Great]

Someone used Mario Maker 2 to rotate World 1-1 ninety degrees so the Mario Bros. have to cooperate in jumping from horizontal pipe to horizontal pipe up a proverbial cliff. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N0VTix3HNw)

[Nate the Great]

A new Trek filk song about redshirts: The Redshirt Boogie Blues (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3NYvX90Vfk)!

[Nate the Great]

Because Science calculates Link's strength. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An3Swbu1Qh0) With the Golden Gauntlets he can lift and throw 150 tons. Seeing math applied to ludicrous scenarios is always fun, but this guy seems to forget that the Golden Gauntlets are explicitly magical. Link's not Superman-levels of strong, his gloves are making things seem to weigh less (and also magically allowing him to stick to the ground when lifting things so the leverage lets him actually do it, because even the strongest guy in the world can't lift something who's center of gravity is so far offset from his own).

[Nate the Great]

Certifiably Ingame covers the Kobayashi Maru (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdTfyKkaQ_Y), including how various characters handled the test in the novels. I'm glad mention was made of how Peter Kirk handled it in the novel Sarek.

[Nate the Great]

Certifiably Ingame gives a rundown of his favorite Starfleet uniforms. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoffy5k1cwc) Sadly the Monster Maroons are only in second place, with the later DS9/TNG movie "grey yoke" uniforms at number one.

[Nate the Great]

For once Mind Your Decisions made a mistake with a test problem. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3xyMp1hJDA&t=102s) Not a mistake in his answer, but he didn't use the fastest and most efficient method. The comments were quick to point this out. I ask you guys to pause the video at the appropriate time and find the thirty second answer that Presh Talwalker didn't.

[Nate the Great]

Star Trek Deviantart Day Seven!


I don't care that it's only been two weeks!


A poster for a Star Trek/Wars mashup movie. (https://www.deviantart.com/memorabilafunky8/art/STAR-TREK-WARS-820017334) Love the Cochrane delta on the hilt of Decker's lightsabre.


Today's big discovery is Jerantino. I'll limit myself to the Trek drawings, but he has stuff from many fandoms...

Sisko and his baseball. (https://www.deviantart.com/jerantino/art/Inktober-2019-Day-27-819519583)
Janeway looking (https://www.deviantart.com/jerantino/art/Inktober-2019-Day-29-819520001)...unimpressed? Incredulous? That's an odd expression, and I'm wondering why she doesn't have an arched eyebrow.
Bones contemplates a hypo (https://www.deviantart.com/jerantino/art/McCoy-814996685). I wonder if there's cordrazine in there...
Uhura (https://www.deviantart.com/jerantino/art/Nichelle-Nichols-as-Lt-Nyota-Uhura-782036181). I can't decide if the size of her hair is exaggerated or not...
Saavik (https://www.deviantart.com/jerantino/art/Kirstie-Alley-as-Saavik-780487366). It almost looks like Jerantino aged her up a bit (is this how she would've looked in STVI?). She looks particularly aggressive here...


An interesting collage of characters. (https://www.deviantart.com/erissera/art/Star-Trek-Tribute-819268339) The art itself is well done, but the actual faces are weird. Tasha looks more like a young Nechayev, Janeway's forehead is too big, Data's face has melted, etc.


Animated Marcia Brady in a TOS Halloween costume. (https://www.deviantart.com/juliefan21/art/Marcia-Brady-s-31-Days-of-Halloween-Costumes-28-815970887)



Medical Officer Dr. Strange treats Engineering Officer Tony Stark. (https://www.deviantart.com/melodiewhites/art/Ironstrange-Star-Trek-AU-817010992)Don't ask me why Dr. Strange is a Vulcan...

[Nate the Great]

It's been a few years since I've promoted pocket83. Today he repairs a hatchet using several techniques. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiQiJtqpBFY) As a Minnesotan I have some experience with using axes and hatchets to get firewood, and while I would never go to the effort this guy does, I can respect what he's doing.

[Nate the Great]

Michael J. Pollard died yesterday. While is Trek connection is that he was one of the "immortal" kids in "Miri", I remember him best from Summer Magic with Hayley Mills. And of course Mr. Mxyzptlk on Superboy.

[Nate the Great]

Mathologer takes the properties of Pascal's Triangle to a new level. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JN5f7_3YmQ)


Wait until he shows you the triangle patterns in snail shells. I suspect that certain speckle patterns in reptile and butterfly scales come from similar rules.

[Nate the Great]

It's 47 Day in the Link Thread!



47 Society home page (http://www.47.net/47society/)

A poster from the 47 Society. (http://www.47.net/47society/gallery/files/47flyer.gif)
Old site that catalogs the Trek 47s! (http://web.archive.org/web/20011024225619/http://schlock.net/the47s.html)
Memory Alpha article (https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/47)
Sev Trek comic, it's 42 adjusted for inflation! (http://web.archive.org/web/20120913080935/http://cartoons.sev.com.au/archivepage.php?cartoonid=s70)
Chakotea (provider of transcripts for the retrospectives) also keeps 47 lists. (http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/index.html)
While the DS9 staff eventually tired of the gag, J.J. Abrams has carried the joke into his other works. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/47_(number)#Star_Trek)

[Nate the Great]

Today's MinuteEarth video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSoqJpisKIghttp://) is sponsored by my alma mater, the University of Minnesota!


Programming computers to recognize the different animals in photos reminds me of CGP Grey's video on a similar subject (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9OHn5ZF4Uo).

[Nate the Great]

Foxtrot presents a Star Trek Christmas strip. (https://scontent-den4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/79140886_10215587378385371_7518658963991166976_n.j pg?_nc_cat=101&_nc_ohc=B-E-C3X7PNoAQkUYsxznX9F5EUxGLA27ILEgLAdekhikr8uwaLbjKJ D1Q&_nc_ht=scontent-den4-1.xx&oh=c3a7f03699f0700821b77fe6340ea460&oe=5E825EDB)

[DrWho42]

anthony fantano talks about fishcenter live (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxtfdV1MmuU)

[Nate the Great]

Star Trek Deviantart Day 8 AKA A Star Trek Deviantart Christmas!


Tribble-themed Christmas Tree (https://www.deviantart.com/nokeek/art/Star-Trek-Christmas-651555079)
Female Data cosplayer with Santa hat (https://www.deviantart.com/saja-lyn/art/Christmas-Time-Data-653053571)
Q plays Santa, and Data in an ugly Christmas sweater (https://www.deviantart.com/dziwaczka/art/star-trek-christmas-special-344799934)
The Quark that stole Christmas (https://www.deviantart.com/nosmirmcawesome/art/Quarksmas-499543160)
A classic scene from A Charlie Brown Christmas, but with Star Trek characters. (https://www.deviantart.com/johnny-radar/art/Star-Trek-Christmas-Card-648252637)Featuring cameos by the Gorn, Trelane, two of the Alice androids, the salt vampire, and a few others.
Star Trek gingerbread cookies (https://www.deviantart.com/metallicar-67/art/Gingerbread-Trek-147592037)

Santa Worf (https://www.deviantart.com/bebbe88/art/Santa-Worf-70943449)
A chibi NextGen Christmas. (https://www.deviantart.com/vemavra/art/Star-Trek-TNG-Christmas-vs-New-Year-344284188)

Homemade Christmas-themed TOS Trinity ornaments (https://www.deviantart.com/kingmelissa/art/Holiday-Trek-275278271)

[DrWho42]

flooded TARDIS console room (https://twitter.com/ViiiJohannes/status/1207403731597303809)

[Nate the Great]

Someone removed the music backing from "Let it Go" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH75twH05rw), replacing it with the actual sounds of the surroundings. I'm impressed by how Elsa's voice echos while inside and how the volume of her voice increases and decreases with distance from the "camera."

[DrWho42]

rip mike resnick (1942-2020) (http://file770.com/mike-resnick-1942-2020/) via file 770

[Nate the Great]

LGR finds some weird computer peripherals from time to time, but this one takes the cake: a 5 1/4" drive that adds a cupholder and a cigarette lighter to your computer! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ErL39wqO-c)


And yes, the lighter can power all of your car gadgets. So here's an unofficial PNQ: What's the weirdest car gadget you've ever used?


I'm not sure about weird, but for awhile I used a transmitter that could broadcast to the car radio the signal from the 3.5 mm jack (output from an iPod or whatever) OR just play the music on a jumpdrive plugged into the USB port!

[DrWho42]

my cat got featured on file 770 (http://file770.com/cats-sleep-on-sff-barry-malzberg/)?

[NAHTMMM]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H_navSFGj0I

Finnish baseball looks weird

[Nate the Great]

Star Trek DeviantArt Day Nine!


Atmospheric shot of the E-D firing at a Tie Fighter (https://www.deviantart.com/silver7854/art/Star-Trek-Star-Wars-72754144)
Voyager, Delta Flyer, and Type 9 Shuttle fly above the clouds (https://www.deviantart.com/overseer/art/Above-the-Clouds-584917156)
NextGen main characters. (https://www.deviantart.com/benttibisson/art/Star-Trek-the-Next-Generation-painting-617241159) Compared with the rest of the cast Pulaski isn't done quite as well. Wrong hairstyle and too many wrinkles.

Dramatic group shot of the Big Seven. (https://www.deviantart.com/michkelleher/art/Star-Trek-Ultimate-Edition-114043692) My big problem is the movie-era Starfleet emblem when everything else is TOS.

TOS does Abbey Road. (https://www.deviantart.com/rabittooth/art/Star-Trek-Abbey-Road-301614462) Note the empty Saurian Brandy bottle in Scotty's hand.

The Big Three on the bridge (https://www.deviantart.com/sharpbrothers/art/Star-Trek-Archive-Kirk-122961191). I wonder what Bones is looking at...
Spock post-resurrection. (https://www.deviantart.com/daviddeb/art/Spock-517533010) It's great to know that there are still Zelda fans in the 23rd century...
What if TOS episodes had deco-style posters? (https://www.deviantart.com/strongstuff/art/mondo-journey-to-babel-183469774)
You have to see the Picard in this TNG group shot. (https://www.deviantart.com/nightwing1975/art/main-crew-next-generation-254356134) What is that expression?
(https://www.deviantart.com/wbmstr/art/Star-Trek-Playboy-Bunny-Chloe-Dykstra-SDCC-2014-478676429)
TOS Playboy Bunny (https://www.deviantart.com/wbmstr/art/Star-Trek-Playboy-Bunny-Chloe-Dykstra-SDCC-2014-478676429)

[Nate the Great]

Mathias Wandel strikes again. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4xZpm5n214)


He takes a break from inventing the better mousetrap to set up a little circus acrobatics obstacle course to test the mouse's problem-solving ability.

[DrWho42]

apparently, you can get custom-made chia pets (https://chia.com/chia-pets/custom-chia-pets/)?

[NAHTMMM]

http://www.mezzacotta.net/100proofs/

David Morgan-Mar of Irregular Webcomic! and other endeavours is writing up one hundred demonstrations that the Earth is round, not flat. There's a lot of fun science in here. This one (https://www.mezzacotta.net/100proofs/archives/494) has pictures of some sweet sundials.

[Nate the Great]

It's been three years since I've shilled Cliff Stoll, but this time (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-Pe1ZMJEXk) he's really gone off the deep end.



Linking two Klein bottles...okay.
Linking three Klein bottles...a little harder, but okay.
Linking SEVENTEEN Klein bottles...what?!?!
Nesting three Klein bottles...how?!?!

[Nate the Great]

Straight from Reddit...


A music box (https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=38&v=xBlzZRuL3qI&feature=emb_logo)that plays the old Tootsie Roll commercial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG75rYD151s).



Even though this commercial is from 1977, I remember it still airing as I was growing up in the '80s. I have fond memories of it. Plus I love Tootsie Rolls. Not so much Tootsie Pops, as I don't like mixing chocolate and fruit flavors in candy.

[Nate the Great]

25 Fictional Sports That Would Be Crazy Dangerous in Real Life (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vwn2swkY9eg)


Of course Parrises Squares is on the list, too bad the images are of Anbo-jyutsu (https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Anbo-jyutsu), NOT Parrises Squares (https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Parrises_squares). I get that we've never actually seen a game of Parrises Squares, but we have seen the uniforms and heard many things about it.

[Nate the Great]

You all remember Star Wars Uncut, of course, but a group of people did the same with Shrek. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM70TROZQsI)

[Nate the Great]

Pushing Up Roses shows us Murder She Wrote episodes every so often, and the latest one guest-stars Kate Mulgrew (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4ZXqUzFI9s).

[Nate the Great]

Pi Day 2020! YouTube has lots of videos (https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=pi+day+2020), but here are some highlights:



Mind Your Decision shows us how to make any number from four pis (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXunUuvx6_c)
Vi Hart strikes again (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4Lc5-6L1pE&t=27s)
A few members of the Numberphile crew (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKl1B8y4qXw) calculates pi by hand in the house that Isaac Newton did it hundreds of years ago
Yanjaa shows us how to memorize the first 100 digits of pi (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Inio2Eks1LU)

[Nate the Great]

On a video of Scotty being brought out of suspension (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K7C7f9tqtk), there's a great joke in the comments...


Riker: "Look, I'm sorry about that little show back there, but we thought it best to break it to you slowly."

Scotty: "Break what, lad?"

Riker: "You've been in suspended animation, Captain, for over 70 years." (Scotty looks around in shock).

Geordi: "You gonna be okay?"

Scotty: "Aye, aye, laddie, I just... I had a date."

[Nate the Great]

A buy from China sets the new record for solving three Rubik's Cubes while juggling them, a little over five minutes. (https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2018/5/video-teenager-juggles-and-solves-three-rubiks-cubes-with-some-lightning-fast-r?fbclid=IwAR1MVjP4scqNMb6xpKbOKyuO5Fr4Wa7d7R20cC3 tJzAMjblQ68zqH0kQnMI)

[Nate the Great]

Of all the songs I never thought you could "metalize", the Popcorn Song is one of them.



But wouldn't you know, someone's done it. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O775dHUHxLs)

[Nate the Great]

A fan has made a "Discoveryized" version of the 1701 that more closely fits the original. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLgZ2-Ev8NY)


I like this a lot more than what is actually on Discovery. I would be more accepting of this design as "that's what it really looked like, but the budget couldn't extend that far!" goes.


In the comments there's still debate about whether or not the "has to be 25% different" clause was really in effect. I thought that was answered years ago!

[Nate the Great]

So apparently Lemon Demon made an updated version of The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny back in 2017. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENYMDt1XZmQ)



I don't like it.


The music is overbearing when the point is the lyrics. The lyrics seem to be altered too much to fit the music. The whole thing seems like Lemon Demon was trying to take it away from "fun spoof" into "legitimate music." Plus the 3D models seem to exist in a void. The standins for the characters barely look like who they're supposed to be, and the whole thing is severely underpopulated because there are only so many fictional characters that can be represented by prebuilt standins.



I have to go cleanse myself with the original... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WgT9gy4zQA)

[Nate the Great]

Someone turned Dr. Seuss' "Oh, The Places You'll Go" into a rap. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-hW8KOdqnQ)



Another example of "just when you think life can't get weirder, it does."


She did the same thing to the Grinch, FYI. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyjGhvIe5lg)

[Nate the Great]

Star Trek Deviantart Day 10!


Stylized Female TOS Officer. (https://www.deviantart.com/pungang/art/Classic-Star-Trek-84221630) I'm reminded of Erin Esurance for some reason...


Klingon Santa Claus (https://www.deviantart.com/oliverink/art/Kris-Klingon-777866396)


This Voldemort variant (https://www.deviantart.com/spicysteweddemon/art/Future-Potter-Voldemort-185858487)doesn't have much to do with Star Trek, but I have to comment that he reminds me of a Chodak (https://memory-beta.fandom.com/wiki/Chodak) from the game A Final Unity.


A young Sarek (https://www.deviantart.com/h-e-r-b-a-t-a/art/Sarek-of-Vulcan-134516422)


This is supposed to be Gul Dukat (https://www.deviantart.com/alex-jd-black/art/Star-Trek-Gul-Dukat-515794300), but his face is too round...


Chibi Kirk and Rand (https://www.deviantart.com/zombieisok/art/StarTrek-TOS-Epic-135004630). Have I mentioned how much I hate the green wraparound tunic enough yet?

[Flying Gremlin]

The cast of Discovery sings Rent. Let's hear it for the... nerds! (https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=544141186098858)

I wasn't late posting this, nor I was I early. I posted it precisely when I meant to.

[NAHTMMM]

Some other covers:

There are people who use Animal Crossing characters as inspiration to cover such songs as "Take On Me" (https://youtu.be/ZhIICPHmJuQ) or "Fireflies" (https://youtu.be/sZuPFuaPgG0)

A sort of, I dunno, smooth lounge jazz version of "Come Together" https://youtu.be/xcUEc4xKG4c

A bluegrass version of "Linger" https://youtu.be/6D_sGGJndow

[DrWho42]

a friend wrote an obit for my cat in file 770: http://file770.com/pixel-scroll-4-12-20-do-not-stare-directly-into-the-scroll-pixel-blindness-may-ensue/

[Nate the Great]

Nostalgia Critic Review of the new Doctor Doolittle movie. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFXy0NO36jo)


Ugh, I'm glad I didn't watch this one. I take my Doctor Doolittle very seriously, I've spent decades building my collection, even if I'm still a few books short (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Dolittle) I'll bet you I'm the only one in a hundred miles to own anything but The Story of Doctor Doolittle and The Voyages of Doctor Doolittle, the only ones that are always in print.


Yes, the Rex Harrison movie is deeply flawed, but I still enjoy it. Never bothered with the Eddie Murphy series.

[Zeke]

My condolences about your cat, DrWho42.

[NAHTMMM]

Sorry to hear about your cat. :(

[Nate the Great]

So I just watched Star Trek: Renegades (https://ww1.putlocker.fyi/star-trek-renegades/)


Um...so that happened.


I don't want to do a full-blown riffing session, let's just summarize with "good acting but a hideously paced story with inadequate exposition."

[Nate the Great]

A fan is making LEGO dioramas of NextGen episodes. (https://trekmovie.com/2020/04/29/fan-spending-quarantine-creating-virtual-lego-builds-for-each-episode-of-star-trek-the-next-generation/?fbclid=IwAR0FitTweEJVFtUSeL0Jlo8zpUG2SU5e0H034XT2 m88P_eZ7ljNSZLGT3l8)



I always like it when two of my interests intersect.

[Nate the Great]

In honor of Star Wars Day, it's Star Trek/Star Wars Crossover Deviantart Day!


Spock beats Darth Vader (https://www.deviantart.com/mattmoylan/art/Lil-Formers-Star-Trek-122147274)
Data can't analyze Yoda (https://www.deviantart.com/mpcp13/art/Star-Wars-Star-Trek-Humor-11972787)
Spock vs. Darth Vader (https://www.deviantart.com/robert-shane/art/Star-Wars-meets-Star-Trek-Vader-vs-Spock-352314091)
Data helps C-3PO and R2-D2 (https://www.deviantart.com/drzime/art/Star-Trek-Wars-Data-and-C3PO-486500444)

A standoff between Wars and Trek. (https://www.deviantart.com/hapo57/art/Star-Wars-vs-Star-Trek-166388139)Note how off-model Chekov is, he looks more like Davy Jones than himself (I have noticed the irony)
Star Trek vs. Star Wars poster (https://www.deviantart.com/geektruth64/art/Star-Trek-vs-Star-Wars-Poster-264742357)

[Nate the Great]

In case you haven't watched the DS9 documentary "What We Left Behind" yet... (https://ww1.putlocker.fyi/what-we-left-behind-looking-back-at-deep-space-nine/)


Salient points made in the documentary:


1. The viewers didn't swarm to DS9 like they did to TNG and VOY because it didn't have exploration. If anything I think DS9 had MORE exploration, it was just internal rather than external most of the time. I can't think of a Trek crew that changed more over their series' run.



Think about it. What "evolved" in TOS besides McCoy and Spock's relationship and opinions of each other? Episode to episode continuity just didn't happen back then. What you saw is what you got. Furthermore, how often did TNG actually "explore strange new worlds"? Was it even a quarter of episodes? No, they were doing the same character exploration that DS9 did!


2. The fans didn't like that DS9 was "darker", Star Trek isn't supposed to be "dark" (Oh, the irony in hindsight...) This ties back to my all-purpose argument whenever someone says that extreme changes "can't" be done. Of course it CAN be done, the question is how well.



On Stargate some thought that O'Neill WAS the show, and that the show should've been cancelled when Richard Dean Anderson left. They proved that SG-1 can happen without O'Neill. Alternatively, trying to do Joey without the rest of the Friends was ultimately a failed experiment because the character had to be modified so much that it wasn't the Joey that people liked anymore.



3. The studio didn't like the serializing of the show. It makes you wonder how Babylon 5 pulled it off. I've said it before, watching Babylon 5 made me feel like if I hadn't seen every single episode I would never understand what was going on, and therefore there was no point in watching it. SF Debris' reviews of B5 aren't altering that opinion. DS9 never made me feel that way. They were always very good about recapping what you needed to know.

[Nate the Great]

Like everything else back in the '80s, the Star Trek movies had story records. Well, someone took their Star Trek action figures and made skits backed by the records. They're almost like fivers, only without the jokes (which is kind of where the analogy breaks down). Give them a watch, if only for the overdramatic narrator and the choices of non-Trek action figures to play the minor characters who never got official action figures.


The Motion Picture
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTfDwqpbiG4)
(cameos by the Teen Titans, Supergirl, Buzz Lightyear, Mulan, etc.)
The Wrath of Khan (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcX3Y7yQKFE)
(cameos by Aladdin, He-Man, Elongated Man, etc.)
The Search for Spock (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgNWhgERsvw)
(cameos by Sisko as a Klingon?, Harry Mudd, Monster Maroon Picard, etc.)
The Voyage Home (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duEDdcVlXjI)
(cameos by Black Canary, Doctor Strangepork, various Dragonball characters, Monster Maroon Janeway?, etc.)


And a bonus...


Star Wars A New Hope (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Rs-JuIXuk)
(no cameos here, it's amazing how many Star Wars characters got action figures...)

[Nate the Great]

Explaining Errors in Star Trek (http://www.fiveminute.net/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=81886)


I just discovered this today, so I haven't read much. It appears to take common nitpicks, especially from the Nitpicker's Guides, and tries to explain them. I look forward to seeing how rational the explanations will be.

[Nate the Great]

Thus far I am disappointed in Explaining Errors in Star Trek. Many "explanations" seem to be desperate rationalizations. Most of the rest are just stupid.



However, the one that really ticked me off is... (https://explaining-errors-in-star-trek.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek_IV_The_Voyage_Home)


Error: The Universal translator not working on whale song

"Explanation:" "The capability may have lapsed following the encounters with the Xindi, due to the need to have a living member of the species to provide reference samples."


I grant Anti-Enterprise sentiment here, but at least in that show the device was still in its infancy. On TOS the Universal Translator worked on the Companion, an energy-based being with no comprehension of spoken language at all. No doubt it took her ages to establish telepathic communication with Cochrane, and anytime he "spoke" to her, she was interpreting his thoughts anyway.



Furthermore, the idea that you can listen to an alien language over and over again and decode not only the vocabulary, but the rules of grammar in a few hours or days is ludicrous. That's why the Universal Translator exists, to sweep this problem under the rug so we don't have to worry about it, just like Heisenberg Compensators and subspace fields and inertial dampeners.



Why can Data use contractions sometimes?
(https://explaining-errors-in-star-trek.fandom.com/wiki/Category:The_Next_Generation)


"This is likely due to a minor, intermittent fault in the voice control unit – possibly a corrupted subroutine in the operating program."


Even if Data's self-diagnostics wouldn't catch this, he plugs himself into the computer often enough for an external scan. You see what I meant about desperate rationalization?


How can Spock assume command if he "murdered" Kirk in "Amok Time"? (https://explaining-errors-in-star-trek.fandom.com/wiki/Amok_Time)


"Spock is the most qualified - or he would be if Kirk was actually dead! (If Kirk was actually dead, Spock would probably remain in command until a permanent replacement can be selected.)"


How did that answer the question?



Why did Tormolen remove his glove in "The Naked Time"? (https://explaining-errors-in-star-trek.fandom.com/wiki/The_Naked_Time)


"He did this in order to properly scratch his nose."


Well, duh! That wasn't the question! We're not asking "why did he want to take off his glove," we're asking "why was he allowed to take off his glove, and why didn't he remember that he's in an isolation suit for a reason!"


Why did Admiral Morrow call the Enterprise "over twenty years old" when it's actually closer to forty? (https://explaining-errors-in-star-trek.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek_III_The_Search_for_Spock)


"It is irrelevant how old the Enterprise is. It could be 35 years old, or 100 years old, the fact remains that all of these dates are technically 'over 20 years old.'"


Sheesh, talk about desperate. The simple answer is THEY JUST DIDN'T CARE!



How did the Enterprise reach the center of the galaxy so fast in Star Trek V? (https://explaining-errors-in-star-trek.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek_V_The_Final_Frontier)


"There could have been a number of warp highways in the area, which temporarily allows faster than normal travel."


Warp highways? Transwarp conduits won't be discovered for a hundred years. I'd almost prefer it if the God of Sha Ka Ree told Sybok how to increase warp speeds a la the Kelvans.



Why doesn't the Enterprise keep spare dilithium crystals on board? (https://explaining-errors-in-star-trek.fandom.com/wiki/Elaan_of_Troyius)


"There may be too much risk of them getting damaged in storage."


Dilithium crystals? I definitely get the impression that unless you run energy through them they're practically indestructible. As a meaningless aside in the novel "How Much For Just The Planet" there's so much dilithium on a planet that they make indestructible cooking pans out of them.



How did Kirk beam to the Romulan ship and back through the shields in "The Enterprise Incident"? (https://explaining-errors-in-star-trek.fandom.com/wiki/The_Enterprise_Incident)


"Scotty probably used the transporter sensors to match the sensor windows of the Romulan ship with those on the Enterprise, thus allowing Kirk to beam to the Romulan vessel and back again."


This isn't the only reference on the site of the transporter working through a "sensor window". I'm not sure where this idea came from. I'm not even sure what a "sensor window" is. Do they mean that the sensors need a hole in the shields to scan other ships? That's dumb. Do they mean a particular sensor array, and with enough tweaking two sensor arrays can be linked with a carrier beam for the transporter, bypassing the shield issue? If so, I would imagine that would work if the two ships are cooperating on this (use of prefix codes, and so forth). Even if the Romulans allowed this for a prisoner exchange, the codes would be scrambled at all other times, right?


Why would Layla say that she's never seen a starship before in "This Side of Paradise."? (https://explaining-errors-in-star-trek.fandom.com/wiki/This_Side_of_Paradise)


"She's using the term starship in reference to a Starfleet vessel, as opposed to the obviously commercial transport ship used to transport the colonists."


I've covered my speculations on "spaceship" versus "starship" and "starship=Constitution class" in other posts, so this one isn't that bad.



That's some TOS highlights. I'll probably return for DS9, TAS, and VOY.

[Nate the Great]

From the 40th Anniversary thread.... (http://www.fiveminute.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1200)


Is there such a thing as "lousy Star Trek?" There are lousy episodes, lousy books, lousy scripts, lousy acting, etc, but if it's worthy of being called Trek, then by it's very nature it ain't lousy.


Oh, how the mighty have fallen. How much Trek would I now call unworthy of the name?

[Flying Gremlin]

Reading that thread, first off you have gotten much more cynical since 2006, Nate. Second, PointyHairedJedi certainly got future history right (http://www.fiveminute.net/forums/showpost.php?p=70228&postcount=10).

[Nate the Great]

I try not to be cynical, but I admit that I enjoy nitpicking. At least these days I'm more prone to suggest tweaks to make things more reasonable instead of just saying, "this is stupid, therefore the entire episode shouldn't exist." Just like I intend to "rescue" Voyager episodes when I get to their retrospective in 2024, I intend to do the same with Enterprise in 2031. Yikes, will we all still be here in ten years, or will the site be a ghost town?

[Flying Gremlin]

Yikes, will we all still be here in ten years, or will the site be a ghost town?

Considering that this forum was already almost dead when I signed up, maybe? Who knows?

Greater awareness of the site's existence, some new content, and a newer CMS with an updated site design might help give some new blood, but honestly I have no way of making any of this happen unless I volunteer time that I really don't have considering I'm typing this out while a 18-month old baby is literally trying to use my head as a jungle gym. Besides, I'm an amateur at HTML and would probably suggest vB5 CMS, MediaWiki, WordPress with one of the publishing mods or something like that because it's a more familiar system to work with even though it's probably not the best one for the purposes of this site.

Might be a good topic for a separate thread, not the link thread.

[Nate the Great]

You'd think I wouldn't be surprised by all the fad food mashups that are filling the shelves these days, but...


Sour Patch Kids inside Chips Ahoy cookies. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEwwlbvhBHw)



:confused:


Look, I could see Sour Patch Kids baked into sugar cookies or something, but this is just ridiculous!

[Nate the Great]

Pushing Up Roses' latest Murder She Wrote review. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ShYRWExDDI)


Angela Lansbury, Mr. Belvedere actor Christopher Hewett, Anthony Newley, and Jane Leeves in the same episode? Wow.



Does anyone remember Mr. Belvedere (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-GML1pWkww)? My family loved the show back in the day.

[Nate the Great]

George Takei posted a collage of pop culture robots on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/georgehtakei/photos/a.223098324386295/459233830772742/?type=3&theater)


I'm irked that both the TV and film versions of Marvin are included.
I'm also irked that the Tin Woodman is there. He's not a robot, he's a magically animated automaton! At least Tik-Tok is there...
Can you find Satan's Robot?
Can you find Nomad?

Bicentennial Man got in there, but not Data?

[Nate the Great]

The Hydraulic Press Channel asks what bridge design can handle the most loading per mass of bridge. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3SA2hoKTiM)


As a civil engineer I find it interesting to see what kind of stresses and deformations are shown at different parts of the structure.

[Nate the Great]

Happy Towel Day!


I'm not sure if I've actually posted the main Towel Day site before. (http://www.towelday.org/)
There are still events happening around the world!



This year is the 42nd anniversary of the original radio series!


Someone is reading the book on livestream today.
(https://www.facebook.com/jessica.kane.739/videos/2502789686419914/)


Lofty Pursuits is selling Babel Fish candy again. (https://www.pd.net/node/107)


A timeline of Towel Day celebrations, including the fact that the original Star Wars was released to theaters on Towel Day before h2g2 even existed! (https://nationaltoday.com/towel-day/)


Facebook page, including many pictures of people with their towels (https://www.facebook.com/towelday/)


Fan-made animation set to Douglas reading the towel h2g2 entry from the audiobook (https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=52&v=xs3V_20oD4A&feature=emb_logo)

[Nate the Great]

Virtual Tour of the E-D (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAM2dEEulBk)


It's an impressive CG model, it's a shame that there are so many errors in it.


The shuttlebay is way too big. Way way WAY too big. There are shuttles all over the place parked without rhyme or reason. You'd think there'd be a "parking lot" for all the workbees, one for all the shuttlepods, one for all the runabouts, etc.



The runabout is completely powered down, we've never seen nacelles completely darkened, that would indicate no warp plasma flow at all. It would take time to get the ship up and running again, so it's a bad idea to have such a ship parked next to the doors.


No OSHA compliance on the "starboard elevator". (Elevator? Since when do we use that term on starships?) Furthermore, the top of the shaft looks like it should have a turbolift passthrough, but of course there is no such thing. Cargo is transferred with transporters and shuttlecraft, not turbolifts.


The three light bars for the transporter light up for the beaming process and then go dark again, they don't stay lit until something beams back. That's just silly.


While I can accept a lounge for people who want to watch the shuttles go in and out, I can't accept a full bar in it. There would just be a replicator.



Ten Forward seems a bit too small.


Pushing the Enterprise models out to the hallway seems weird, but at least it gave us the chance to give the XCV 330 (the ringship) some love. Even if it also had to have the NX-01 in there as well, grrr....


The Demolition Man three seashells was a cute gag, even if I only got it because of Spoony's review...


It's always nice to see the Kurlan naiskos, but why didn't we see Livingston's fishtank?

[Nate the Great]

Virtual Tour of Voyager (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgmD9fA8_co)


Another good effort, but I can see even more mistakes than the E-D video. I won't go into as much detail this time, but...


* I see more blocky furniture than I would expect, probably in the name of easier modelling.

* The brig is way too big.
* Shuttlebay is way too big.
* Weird warp core pattern.

* Appearance of "main bridge" on the turbolift controls. I'm pretty sure that Voyager doesn't have a battle bridge, you'd have to use Engineering or Astrometrics as one instead.

[Flying Gremlin]

It was based on the Star Trek Voyager Elite Force maps, and that one was based on the Quake engine. It could handle the curves, but not on smaller objects. Also explains why certain maps were larger.

[Nate the Great]

How to build a winning Pinewood Derby car (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RjJtO51ykY)


I was a Pinewood Derby champ a few times in my youth, and I didn't know about many of these tricks.

[Nate the Great]

The Eight Rules of Starship Design (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au9UeLfI6TE&t=313s)


Once upon a time there were definite rules to make sure that Star Trek ships looked like they belong in the Star Trek universe. No further comment.


One thing that stuck with me is the lack of a deflector dish on the Soyuz class of ship. While the Miranda (https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Miranda_class) class doesn't have a traditional deflector array either, you could argue that the rollbar would have an equivalent to a deflector dish, even if it doesn't glow. But the Soyuz (https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Soyuz_class)? It does have "turrets" extending from the top and sides of the saucer, but if they had deflectors in them would it allow for full coverage of the space ahead?



Then it occurred to me that while a turret could handle specific incoming chunks of rock, how could they combine to create a reliable deflector field for stellar dust and such? The overlapping bubbles would create "valleys" that incoming rocks could collect in, perhaps with enough force to punch through?

[Nate the Great]

Kate Mulgrew, Garrett Wang, and Robert Picardo show us around the Voyager set. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4sX6hEmnik)


I find it odd that Wang refers to a transporter chief, "whoever that may be at the time." Of course there was never such a person on Voyager, but it occurs to me that such a person would've been useful as a side character. What with all the races in the Delta Quadrant who don't have transporter technology, you could've had an episode where the chief is kidnapped and tortured to tell the Kazon or whoever how to make their own transporters.


I also find it sad that Wang didn't recognize where the "no matter where you go, there you are" quote comes from. I've never seen Buckaroo Bonzai and even I can remember a detail like that. It's been a hidden joke of the set crew since the TNG days. Before that, actually, as it's on the Excelsior's dedication plaque!

[Nate the Great]

An attempt to pin a conversion rate between dollars and gold-pressed latinum. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SSnwRshpDc)


The best balance is where a slip is a dollar and a bar is two thousand dollars. Of course (yet again) the creators really didn't care about this sort of thing when they were making the show, but I do wonder why they didn't write down a little note somewhere giving a simple conversion ratio for future writers.



A comment points out that while we know that a strip is a hundred slips and a bar is twenty strips, we never got the conversion between bars and bricks. When Quark is in Morn's storage unit full of bricks, how much is that (if Morn hadn't extracted the latinum, of course)?



Short Treks introduces a "big bar" equal to 100,000 Federation credits, but how many bricks to a big bar? And how many 23rd century credits to a dollar? In one of the comics Spock has back pay equal to 611,700 credits. Let's call this ten years of back pay, as he doesn't seem like the guy to go to Risa or anything expensive on leave. He probably just visits Vulcan (not necessarily his parents) or goes on a scientific expedition.



Today the executive officer of a US Navy ship makes about $136,000/yr. Let's bump it up to $150,000 for round numbers and Spock's double duty as science officer (plus the flagship status of Enterprise). 60,000 credits a year means 2.5 dollars/credit. A "big bar" is therefore $250,000. If a bar is $2000, that's 125 bars to a big bar.

[Nate the Great]

I forgot to convert 23rd century credits to 24th century credits. I have to do that before I can convert 23rd century big bars to 24th century bars.



Incidentally, the Federation offer for the Barzan Wormhole is 1,500,000 credits up front and 100,000 per year thereafter. (So much for TNG not using money, Gene!) For a lum sum call it a fifteen year pay period, or 3 million credits total. Let's call this the equivalent of buying Alaska. $7.2 million in 1867 is $125 million today. So a 24th century credit is 40 dollars and thus equal to 16 23rd century credits. A big bar is therefore 6,000 24th century credits or $24,000 or 12 bricks.



(Meaningless aside, ten credits for a tribble is $25. If tribbles are rare enough I don't suppose that's a problem.)

[Nate the Great]

Some Stack Exchange speculation on whether Carol Marcus was the "blond lab technician" that Gary Mitchell distracted Kirk with. (https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/140090/was-carol-marcus-the-little-blonde-lab-technician)


Just to prove that I'm not the only one who tries to Do The Math and fact-check to prove or disprove theories.


Personally I like the idea but don't see how it could work with the established chronology (although Kirk being a lieutenant and Academy instructor before he's really been in space is always going to be a square peg in a round hole).


The specifics about David's conception and Kirk's near-encounter with Ketteract's Omega disaster are in one of the novels, but I forget which one.

[Nate the Great]

It's Disney Music Box Day!


Beauty and the Beast Prologue (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnh0rUTORVg) (this song doesn't get the acclaim that it deserves)


Once Upon a Dream (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J2pmjDsJ7o) (I'd up the speed to 1.5 if I were you)


A Whole New World (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZzRYg_8m58) (1.25)


A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mn8zxE0_DM&list=RDXZzRYg_8m58&index=9) (1.75)


When You Wish Upon A Star (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIegKBezIfQ&list=PLkfIp3ZroUhiVxu_31sGxmMz7pPTBwzsy&index=7)(1.25)


When Will My Life Begin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIA4s0ntY14&list=PLADHzEaWA6KCS12dwbZUkVP071KfQz2-W&index=5) (1.5)


Ducktales Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUVqZNjuXVs&list=PLADHzEaWA6KCS12dwbZUkVP071KfQz2-W&index=22)(1.75)

[Nate the Great]

Explaining Errors in Star Trek Wiki: DS9 Edition! (https://explaining-errors-in-star-trek.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Deep_Space_Nine)


(Part One, anyway)



An unexplored planet is only 6 light years from DS9. Explanation: it's "behind" the wormhole. So what? The ancient Bajorans made it to Cardassia!



Someone was actually confused about where Quark heard of Fizzbin. I would assume it's obvious: the Federation shepherded Sigma Iotia until they were able to apply for membership, and they spread the game throughout the known galaxy. Plus it would make sense for Ferengi to study all known gambling games, right?


Someone else brought up the question of why would you buy food at Quarks when you can just go to the Replimat. Off the top of my head, Quarks has higher-class replicators that use more specialized and expensive base material. Perhaps certain races have more refined palates that find "ordinary" replicated food unpalatable and are willing to spend money on the better stuff.


Someone else wondered why Keiko was able to start a school without a teaching certificate. Someone speculated that getting one wouldn't be unusual for a botanist in order to teach others, but I'll go with the simpler "nobody else seemed to want the job, so anyone is better than nobody." (Of course that does beg the question of why Bajor wouldn't send a teacher to DS9 at the end of the Occupation if children are going to be on board).


Why is Quark counting his profits in plain sight? Explanation: he's flaunting his wealth. Yeah, that doesn't work for me. The real reason is that there isn't an office/vault set to hold the scene in instead.


If Melora can't use an antigrav wheelchair because of Cardassian technology incompatibility, how come Bashir can use an antigrav stretcher in "Necessary Evil" two episodes from now? They really don't offer a valid explanation, but I'll offer one. The antigrav stretcher could use Cardassian tech, but not Melora's wheelchair because the Cardassians wouldn't have accounted for such technology. They sure seem like the kind of race to execute parapalegics in the name of efficiency and eugenics, don't they?


Why did Sisko leave the station undefended in "Meridian"? Explanation: DS9 has other ships near it to defend the station. No, the real explanation is that the show introduced the Defiant specifically to get away from the station every once in awhile. Furthermore, Starfleet has been slowly upgrading the station's weaponry this whole time. You don't need the Defiant there all the time when there's no immediate threat.


"Meridian" is the first DS9 episode after Voyager's disappearance, why isn't anyone talking about it? The proposed explanation doesn't gel, but I have a simpler one: this isn't really a DS9 problem. There would undoubtedly be other starships in the DMZ to handle Maquis problems without bothering DS9.



There's an interesting discussion on the "Meridian" page about why Starfleet ignored the Dominion's orders to stay out of the Gamma Quadrant.

[Nate the Great]

Explaining Errors in DS9, Part Two!


Why would the Cardassians let a Bajoran scientist work with the newly-discovered Odo?

Attempted explanation: This kept Dr. Mora busy so he couldn't help the resistance.
I'm confused as to how Dr. Mora could help the resistance. It's not like his skills extend to weaponry or similar.


If Mrs. Vaatrick can't pay for power to keep her lights on, why are her automatic doors still working?
Attempted explanation: The doors had a backup battery.
I have troubles across the board with this scenario. You'd think the Federation would pay enough to maintain a minimum standard of life for all Bajorans as an example of the good they could do if Bajor joined the Federation.


How come the computer tracks Bashir by his commbadge but can instantly track civilians like Jake who don't wear commbadges?
Attempted explanation: Children of officers have continual biosign locks on them so their parents can track them.
Yeah...that's silly. This is a plot hole that just can't be solved. I'd be more willing to say that DS9 is so old that it can't isolate individual lifesigns without a commbadge (or Cardassian equivalent wrist-mounted communicator). But that raises further questions...


In the page for "The Adversary" it's asked why Kira and Odo come along on purely Starfleet missions. The big problem is that if you're going to use logic for that sort of thing, the Defiant would have a dedicated crew that we would rarely see and the main cast would be stuck on DS9 except for extraordinary circumstances.



Along the same lines it's asked why the Changeling in "The Adversary" is willing to harm Odo. I'd argue that the Founders define "harm" as permanent damage and whatever that chest-punch thing the other Changeling did to Odo was their equivalent of a Vulcan neck pinch, designed to subdue Odo and not hurt him.


Wouldn't sticking Garak in a holding cell for six months be considered torture?
Attempted explanation: Nobody knew he was claustrophobic at this point. Besides, part of Garak's problem with small spaces is the whole experience-lack of air, darkness or irregular light, increasing temperatures, lack of stimulation, etc. They probably shipped Garak off to a penal colony where he would have his own room and could go outside every day. Not a resort, but not a small closet either!


There's a bit of discussion about the effectiveness of miniaturized photon torpedoes against Jem'Hadar in "One Little Ship", specifically vaporization. I argue that shrunk antimatter can only explode in conjunction with shrunk matter. The booms would affect Jem'Hadar like firecrackers, not grenades.


How come the transporter lost cohesion so fast in "Our Man Bashir"?

This time there's actually a reasonable explanation-Cardassian transporters aren't designed with redundancies to preserve patterns the same way that Starfleet ones can. Furthermore, we have to presume that Cardassian transporters aren't updated as often as Starfleet ones.


In "The Passenger" there is a question about how Kira can use a runabout's transporter to beam out four people when there are only two pads. So what? In "Up the Long Ladder" the transporter handled way more than six people at once, no doubt a transporter platform can combine pads for larger objects or more people (using much more energy than usual, I assume)


The question is asked about why the Changleling that's impersonating Bashir didn't save the dying Changeling infant. Memory Alpha confirms that it would've been the imposter due to the uniform transition (the real one was still wearing the older station design, not the TNG movie style). My reply is that the imposter figured out that there was no way of saving the infant even if he linked with it (no doubt he would've had to merge with it like Odo did, which would've qualified as "harm").


The question is asked why Ezri's spots aren't visible on her legs in 'Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang" when Jadzia proved that the spots go all the way down. All the commenters can offer is that she camouflaged them like Jadzia did in "Trials and Tribbleations." Complete nonsense. Except for Vic, everyone in the Las Vegas program was hardwired to see all occupants as humans (without racial prejudice, I might add). Ezri would have no reason to use the technobabble "makeup" from the earlier episode, it's easier to chalk it up to "they forgot."

[Nate the Great]

It's always fun to see two of my favorite YouTube channels crossover...


Adam Savage meets Matt Parker of Numberphile, etc. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65r_1TzJXaQ)


Furthermore, Adam is a Patreon supporter of Numberphile and knows what a Parker Square is and can make Parker-something jokes (just as a Parker Square is a not-quite perfect magic square, a Parker-something is something you try that doesn't quite turn out right (https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Parker%20Square)).

[Flying Gremlin]

I actually have a link to share.

Eminem's Without Me... in Klingon. (https://youtu.be/LBtj4WoC6XA)

(If it's been posted before, well... this thread is long.)

[Nate the Great]

Explaining Errors In DS9, Part Three!


Why would Bashir be willing to change Quark's gender so easily?

Attempted explanation: Cosmetic surgery for a mission is hardly anything new. Plus having Brunt in charge would be bad for the Federation.


While I'm sure that the Federation is open enough that body modifications for lifestyle choices have become commonplace, I'm not sure how that would affect this situation. Bashir knows that it'll only be for a few days. Besides, from what we know of Bashir's ethics, the consequences of Brunt in charge wouldn't be a factor, only Quark's health and opinion. Would he do it anyway? I'm not sure.


The question is raised about whether Bashir would feel hesitant to accept the Karrington due to his genetic modification "cheating". I don't have a problem with this, there are no doubt numerous aliens with mental capacities equal to Bashir's and that isn't considered cheating. Plus, imagine having to come up with conversion factors for every known alien race to even the playing field (imagine the Vulcans being told that their scores have to be multiplied by 0.8 to have a fair comparison with humans!)


In "Call to Arms" several Galaxy-class vessels are seen without registry numbers.

Attempted explanation: They were assembled quickly to shore up the fleet and there might not have been time.


I call shenanigans. No matter what the screen might imply, it takes a long time to build a starship. More than enough time to paint on some numbers.



One idiot on IMDB complained that there were more Defiant-class ships in "Call to Arms" when THE Defiant was said to be a one of a kind prototype. Are you telling me that more Defiants (with design input from O'Brien) weren't on the assembly line the day after the Dominion first appeared?


Tosk got his ship fixed without paying anything.

Attempted explanation: O'Brien did it as a favor.


I think it's simpler. The Federation wants to establish relationships with the races of the Gamma Quadrant, so anybody coming through the wormhole gets free repairs until a formal agreement with their government is made.


Another idiot brings up the fact that we see Tosk's ship docked, why would a ship from the Gamma Quadrant be compatible with station airlocks? Even if you toss out the real-world reasons, there's an in-universe reason. The Progenitors/Preservers designed sentient life to have a bipedal construction within a certain size range. Of course all airlocks would be approximately the same size as well, and as long as a seal can be made, who cares what the individual doors look like?


In "Change of Heart" it's asked why Dax and Worf didn't use the cloaking suits from Insurrection.

Attempted explanation: The tech was still new, and the Dominion would be scanning for such things unlike the Ba'Ku.


Plus I imagine that cloaking suits would require regular maintenance and charging. They also looked pretty fragile, I'm not sure they could survive a jungle environment anyway.



It's asked why the Founder can't maintain her face, but can maintain her uniform. If she didn't Link with Odo, I could argue that she's (gasp!) wearing real clothes to minimize the strain, but since that isn't the case I got nothing.


In "Civil Defense" it's asked why Bashir couldn't heal Dax's burns. For once the Attempted Explanation was correct: the burns were too severe. In this instance it's not like the burns are from the outside in like phasers, it was inside and outside simultaneously: it's a forcefield! Plus Dax had to pull her hands OUT of the forcefield, inflicting more damage.